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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24583846">The Nocking Point</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperSunGunner/pseuds/SuperSunGunner'>SuperSunGunner</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Anticipation, Canon Compliant, Corruption, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Cute, Developing Relationship, Drabble, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I Tried, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jealousy, Kissing, M/M, Manipulation, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post-Canon, Read, Romance, Slow Burn, Sweet, To Read, Tooth-Rotting Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:35:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>57,759</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24583846</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperSunGunner/pseuds/SuperSunGunner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>One night, at a beach party, Leo asked Nico to dance with him. And because of that question, the son of Hephaestus is completely taken by the son of Hades, to the point where Leo goes on a 'quest' to try and swoon Nico to go out with him. </p><p>But because of a certain turn of events dealing with idiotic children of Aphrodite, all of his plans get cut short, because a certain blonde sun god is hit with an Arrow of Eros, and is now madly in love with the son of Hephaestus. And if they don't find a cure soon, Nico's knows of a beautiful place they could send the over bearing god, and it starts with a 'T.'</p><p>[(4-28-2021) WILL BE UPDATING IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS!!!!!]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Apollo/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo &amp; Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo/Leo Valdez, Piper McLean &amp; Leo Valdez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Dance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Literally haven't even proof read bUT I DONT CARE</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Chapter 1: The Dance</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Leo:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was hot tonight, hotter than any night at camp so far, but for obvious reasons, it did not affect Leo in the slightest. Some people think that Leo does not feel the heat, but in fact, he does. Like when he catches on fire every now and then, or when he holds on to something that was well over the safety standard, he feels the heat. It just does not bother or pain him like it does to other people. But he can understand where the confusion comes from. He feels the temperature tonight, but it doesn’t bother him. But even so, he chose to wear a regular orange camp shirt tonight instead of his usual white long sleeve, just because he wanted to. Some of the campers around him were all sweating like motherfuckers, but that just added to the energy of the party that was going on in front of him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They had been planning this little beach party for the past couple of weeks, and everything has been perfect so far. There was no real reason why the party was taking place, just something fun for the older campers to take part of. Summer vacation has just started for the summer time campers, so this is a perfect opportunity to get the ball rolling and have an awesome break for them. Everyone was dancing in an open space beneath him, as the DJ booth was a wooden platform hovering over them. Leo had only spent a few days building it after Jason had asked him to be in charge of the music, much to a certain son of Apollo’s dismay. And of course, Leo took the chance when he could. But, Leo could admit he went a little overboard with the design, because the board in front of him took about two of Ares’s children to carry out of bunker nine all the way to the beach. But the mixer sitting in front of him was so beautiful that the son of Hephesusts could just lean down and kiss it with his own lips if he had to. It was just so perfect, it made his eyes water just thinking about it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Some of them were even grinding on one another’s bodies, and as much as that made the son of Hephaestus glad they were having fun, he was also content in knowing that some of the younger campers were not allowed to join them. Some of his younger siblings were upset, but there was really nothing that he could do. He loved his siblings, but if he was being really honest with himself, he really did not want them there to begin with. This was a party meant for the older kids, anyone who was sixteen and above could come, but he saw some of the younger campers sneak in somehow. Leo was never really one to snitch, so if they wanted to some and have a good time, why not? As long as they were not grinding their bodies together, they were fine. But his job was to be a responsible DJ and not play explicit music. He has been trying his hardest not to play any, but he could not pass up on playing </span>
  <em>
    <span>Starships, </span>
  </em>
  <span>especially on a night like tonight where the sun is nowhere to be found. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He has been up here for a couple of hours now, ever since Chiron came up here and told him not to play any ‘inappropriate’ music while he and Mr. D went back to the Big House for the night. Leo was honestly surprised that the two of them did that anyway, he thought that they would have surely stayed with the party and made sure that the only thing that any of them would be grinding on would be bibles. Leo actually gave himself a small chuckle at that, considering that the bible was literally nothing to him at this point, but the thought still made him smile from time to time. The curly haired brunette told Chiron he would only play the holiest of gospel music, and that only got him a disapproving look on the centaurs eyes, but it was worth it if you asked him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>From the corner of his eye, he sees a figure approach him. He was tall, blonde, wearing nothing but shorts, sandals, and an orange tank top. When Will Solace began to speak, he had to basically yell at the shorter demigod so that the ametuer DJ could understand just what the hell he was trying to say to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You need a break, Leo? You’ve been up here for a few hours!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo smiles at the tall blonde. “Ha! You just wanna steal my tunes, Solace! I know your Dad is like the god of music, but I can’t let this party be sacrificed because of your choice of beats, sir.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll have you know that my taste in music is just fine, very much!” The son of Apollo shouts before his lips turn into a pout. His dark blue eyes then turn serious for a moment. “But seriously, have you eaten something? The party started a few hours ago and I haven’t seen you eaten a thing, let alone a drink of water.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine, doc!” He waved him off. Leo then turned back down towards the mixer and and suddenly thought </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck it, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and put </span>
  <em>
    <span>Starships </span>
  </em>
  <span>on. The crowd below them went crazy and started to rap along with the queen Nicki. Leo then turned and gave a triumphant smile to the son of Apollo, who did not look very amused. “How about you just deal with the fact that I’m a better DJ? I know you want to be like your dad, but you already have the whole healer thing going on for ya, I’m sure he likes you just the way you are.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo says it a little more sarcastically then he should have, but it seemed to have done the trick. Will’s stern look then begins to fade and it turns into something more softer, more familiar. “Can you please just go get something to eat, at least? I don’t want you to burn yourself out, pun intended.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A way to a man’s heart is the shittiest puns. You make me blush, Doc!” Leo says. “Fine! I’ll go get something. But you sure you can handle it, Doc? I don’t want you playing One Direction on me now!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Will actually looked insulted. “I’ll have you </span>
  <em>
    <span>know-</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, yes, we’ve all heard how you wanna fuck the irish one. But same though.” Leo then took the headphones off his shoulders and put them over Will’s ears. “Now make me proud, son!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Will just nodded his head and looked down towards the mixer with a curious look on his face, and for a split second Leo had second thoughts. But either way, now that he thought about it, he was hungry. So he left will alone for the time being, walking down the wooden stairs of the booth and over to the buffet table. But as he made his way down, he heard Will let out, “I better see greens on that plate, Valdez!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Leo just waved him off. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Leo stepped down the wooden steps and into the makeshift dance floor, which was just an open space on the beach. There were lights hanging all around them: lightbulbs wrapped in a pink paper mache type of coating, provided of course by Cabin Ten, of course. At first, the curly haired teen thought it was a dumb color at first, but now he was fine with it, especially when he would decided to play some slow songs and make it nice for some of the couples in camp. And even though he would hate to admit it, the color pink could be used as a party color, if done right. There was just something about the shade that made people go crazy, especially when they were listening to a song like </span>
  <em>
    <span>Starships</span>
  </em>
  <span>, in which everyone was just feeling the vibe of each other and the music. But alas, the song was soon beginning to come to an end and he just prayed to all of the gods above that Solace would play a song that was not about sunshines and lollipops. The elders were asleep, so it was time for the youngins to play! Leo thought himself to be a perfect DJ, and if he trusted the blonde surfer with his station, then he should be good to go. Leo made his way through the crowd, smiling at some of the campers who he was more familiar with, and had the urge to go dance with some of them, but his stomach had a different idea of how things were going to go. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yet as he walked through the crowd and over to the large buffet table on the other side of the dance floor, he immediately spotted two people. The two teens in question were one of the most important people in his life to him, even if he never said it as much as he wanted to. In the middle of the dancefloor Piper McLean and the one and only Jason Grace. Piper had her back against Jason’s strong chest, with the son of Jupiter’s hands on the daughter of Aphrodite’s waste. Jason had his chin resting on the crook of Piper’s neck, and the two of them kept swaying their bodies to the sway of the music. But this was honestly rave music, and the two of them were dancing as if they were listening to Whitney Houston (rest in peace, you icon.) Couples like that got on Leo’s nerves from time to time, but since they were his friends, he would let it slide. They were his two </span>
  <em>
    <span>best </span>
  </em>
  <span>friends, in fact, one of the few people he actually trusted with his inventions. And a fun fact would be that the two of them were actually dating, but this was not news to anyone, except maybe for the new campers that would come and wonder why everyone would talk about the couple like they were. But to be honest, could anyone really blame them? They were both exceedingly attractive, both of them could easily be on the covers of magazines if they wanted to. They were perfect for eachother. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And at times, too perfect for him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For some odd reason, Jason must have felt that he was looking at them, as he looked on over to his direction. The blonde then gives the brunette a small smile, and Leo could not help but smile back. He waved at the son of Jupiter before he made his way over to the buffet table, ignoring the bad taste that was in his mouth. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The large buffet table that was on the other side of the dance floor was filled with so much food that it could feed the party goers three times over if they truly wished for it. There was pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers: the basics for a typical teenage American beach party. But who said being basic was such a bad thing because Leo’s stomach was saying otherwise. He grabbed a plate from one end of the table, and slowly made his way down the large table grabbing some hamburger and hot dog buns. He opened both of the buns and added thick and juicy meats to go with them. He piled the hamburger with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles: almost everything that was on the toppings section if he was really being honest with himself. For the hotdog, he put relish, onions, and even some more pickles just for fun. He grabbed the bottles of ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise and drowned both of the foods with the sauces, to the point where Leo knew he was going a little overboard, but he did not really care. After he was finished, he kindly put the top bun on the burger, and moved on to the pizza boxes on the other end of the buffet table. Some of the boxes were empty, as it was a little late into the night, but that did not stop the son of Hephaestus one bit. He opened one of the boxes and found that most of the pizza had been eaten, except for three slices that some of the other campers had left. But did that stop him? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The one thing that this party failed at was having a seating area for people to actually sit down and eat their food. While he was at the DJ booth he saw people from the outskirts of the dancefloor just sit down on the sand and eat without a hitch. Leo had a thought of doing just that, but he did not want to get sand up his ass, even though he knew that this was a beach party. None of them were allowed to swim in the water because it was too late and it would be dangerous for them to swim at night, even though almost all of them were wearing swim trunks. So to combat this, they had the swimming part of the party while the sun was setting, so that it could be more safer and supervised. Leo did not care about swimming at night, especially when he had a sexy figure that would bask in the moonlight, but some of the campers in the Cabin Six thought otherwise. And speaking of Athena, if Annabeth had come with Percy, maybe they would have been able to convince Chiron to let them swim. But it was a lost cause, so they had to stick with what they got. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But as he looked for a place to try to sit down and enjoy his meal, he saw something in the corner of his dark brown eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Much to almost all of their dismay, the party was on the beach, but it was much more closer to the forest than it was to the actual water. Chiron wanted it to be that way so none of them would be tempted to go and actually drown themselves. It made the son of Hephaestus think that if the man was so worried for their safety, why in Hades would he go to sleep and Mr. D and not be out here supervising them. But either way, the party was closer to the forest, which meant that it left the opportunity for someone to spy on all of them in the shadows if they wanted to. Leo was not creeped out or anything with the thought of someone spying on them, as the camp was protected from monsters and all the like, and all of the other younger campers were fast asleep. There was also a lit dirt path back to cabins, that was just a few yards away from the dance floor, so there was really nothing to be worried about. The lights were made out of the same pink paper mache ones that were all around him, so when campers had left their cabins and walked on the path down to the beach, it gave them a feeling of anticipation of what was about to happen. But in other words there really would be no one out there to be spying on them, unless it was another demigod or something. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Leo just smiled anyway, and with his heavy plate, he made his way over to the dark shadows of the trees, ready to invite someone to dance. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Leo approached the trees, he had to take a few steps inside of the forest to try to find the person he was looking for. The music roaring behind him on the beach kept getting quester and quester, until he was more deep inside of the forest then he had initially anticipated. He let go of one of the hands that was holding onto the heavy plate, and with the other he raised it high into the air, letting a large fireball sit in the center of his palm, He did not want any of the flames to accidentally hit one of the trees, and that would be a disaster in itself. His eyes scattered along the tree line, aiming his light on anything he thought had moved, looking for anything that would show him a sign. Most people would probably be afraid to be in a forest in the middle of the night, but this was Camp Half-Blood. Did the camp have it’s eerie moments from time to time? Absolutely, but when you have the power to save the word, normal scary things become irrelevant. Most of the forest nymphs were most likely helping out with the functions of the party, or sound asleep in the core of their trees. Leo then wonders how any of them would be able to get sleep at all with how loud the music was blasting from behind him, but he knew that they would not mind as they did not ‘sleep’ like they did. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephesustus was this close to giving up until he saw a pair of black hightops from behind a tree truck, and he could not help and smile at that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Di Angelo~! Stop being an antisocial son of Hades and come out~!” Leo sang to the dark haired demigod. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a little while Nico did not move, but instead, he just stayed behind the other end of the tree, most likely contemplating if he really should come out of the shadows or not. But either way, Leo heard a small sigh, and the area in which the son of Hades was standing became a little more brighter under the first quarter moon tonight. Nico stepped from beyond the other side of the tree with an unhappy look on his face. The fellow demigod had jet black hair that went over his ears halfway to his neck, along with the blackest eyebrows the son of Hades had even seen. The son of Hades was wearing the usual getup with the aviator jacket along with the black pants and skull t-shirt that Leo was sure he had not changed since he had met the weirdo about a year ago. And speaking of those black converse, they were so dirty that it made Leo want to go to the nearest washing machine and throw them in there, and that was saying a lot considering that Leo spent so much time in Bunker 9 he forgot to shower from time to time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There he is! Do you mind telling me what you’re doing out here all by yourself?” Leo asked. “Especially brooding in the dark, that’s freaking weird man.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico scowled. He took his hand off of the bark of the tree and made his way over to the son of Hephaestus “I was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>brooding.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really? Then why are you out here, then? Soakin’ up the moon? I know you’re literally allergic to the sun, but that’s just sad.” He snorted. “But I didn’t think parties were your thing.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They're not.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why are you here then?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico looked down to the floor. “Jason asked me to come.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not surprising. Ever since the war had ended, the son of Hades and Jupiter have slowly been getting close over the course of time. Leo did not get much of a chance to grow a bond with the fellow dark haired demigod like that as he was so busy fixing and building things for the camp. Leo then said, “Well, I’m glad you're here then. I was just saving a dance for someone, and I think I just found them.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico’s eyebrows then scrunched up so tight, Leo thought they were going to come off his face. “Excuse me?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I said-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I heard you the first time… You want to dance. With me.” The son of Hades said it more of a statement then a question. “That absolutely makes no sense.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean? It makes perfect sense! I don’t have anyone to dance with, you don’t have anyone to dance with, it’s a perfect match made in Elysium!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico then let out another long sigh, something Leo found ether to be worrying or endearing, looking out toward the party on the beach. Either way, he was determined to get a dance out of the son of Hades, whether he liked it or not. “I don’t really know you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And I don’t really know you, but we’ve gotta start somewhere, right?” Leo said as he looked down toward his plate. He distinguished the palm of fire in his hand and picked up one of the large pizzas that sat on top of the other two slices and the hamburger and hot dog. He grabbed the crust of the pizza and folded it with one hand and put the pointy side of the slice in his mouth, soaring the cheesy and tomato flavor. He then looked back up towards the son of Hades, who had a strange look on his face. Leo then extended the plate toward the black haired demigod with a small smile. “Where are my manners? Want some?’ </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No thanks. I’m sure you got that covered.” He said, grimacing. Leo then just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his slice, completely finishing it before Nico was able to finish his next sentence. “But back to the topic at hand: you want to dance with me. But here’s the thing: I don’t like people and neither do I like dancing.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo then had a hurt look on his face. “You don’t like me?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I- what?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You said you don’t like people, and I’m a person. So you don’t like me?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s not what I-” Nico began, but he then cut himself off when he saw the look on Leo’s face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus was now beaming at the son of Hades, going for the hot dog beneath all of those pizza slices. “See! You do like me! That’s a reason to dance with me right now!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico then put a hand to his face. “I know what you’re trying to do.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the flavor of meat, ketchup and relish was on his tongue, he asked, “What are you talking about? I’m not doing anything my sweet Skullboy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t call me that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Right when Nico was going to open his mouth again, there came a wave of laughter coming from the beach, and Leo turned around. They were a little too deep inside of the forest to actually see what was happening, but the campers were now shouting </span>
  <em>
    <span>go go go go</span>
  </em>
  <span> over and over again. Leo guessed that someone was either chucking a drink down their throat, or someone was doing killer dance moves. Either way, Leo had the urge to eat the rest that was on his plate and go over there and see just what was going on, to be part of the party. The son of Hephaestus then turned around to look at the son of Hades, and found something he never saw before in the demigod’s deep black eyes: he saw something that was not akin to fear, but what seemed to be… anxiety? Leo was a smart person, and he knew a lot when it came to mental health, he himself was a basket case that only a few people knew about. And they all knew that Di Angelo was too distant from the rest of the camp to be considered normal, but that never really bothered the curly haired brunette. But seeing this tiny vulnerability in the son of Hades’s face, something that he had never seen before, really sheds some light on how Leo should go about this. He was going to get his dance either way, so he should do it the best way that would fit Nico. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo then cleared his throat. “It doesn’t have to be here. We could do it somewhere else if you want…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The emotion in Nico’s eyes completely disappeared, and he looked at Leo with the usual intense gaze that the son of Hephaestus was so used to by this point. “What about the party?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shrugged his shoulders as he finished the hot dog. When he was done, he gave Nico a small smile. “As long as I get a dance with you, I’m happy, Nico.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico just stared at Leo with the blankest of expressions for a long time, unmoving. Leo found it a bit uncanny how still the son Hades was being as he peered at the engineer, and he did not know what to say. Nico actually looked pretty nice under the moonlight, it matched his pale skin that never seemed to ever get any sun. After a little while more, Leo was going to open his mouth, but Nico waved his hand in the air, and the two of them were swallowed by darkness, leaving the forest, and most importantly the party, behind them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Leo opened his eyes again, he stumbled backwards, almost falling to the ground but was able to catch himself just in time. He almost lost one of his pizzas in the process, but thankfully, he was able to balance the pate that was in his hand just in time. Leo did not need an explanation on what just happened, as he knew that this ability was one that the son of Hades could do for a long time. It was just that the son of Hephaestus had never experienced it for himself until right now, unexpectedly of course. This special super power that Nico had was called shadow traveling, and it was something that Solace had banned Nico from ever using again. Of couse, that was a dumb this from Leo’s perspective, because telling a son of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hades </span>
  </em>
  <span>not to use the shadows was like telling him as a son of Hephaestus not to his use his fire. But then again, even though Leo liked Solace, he did have his unlikable moments from time to time, especially when he had his doctor mode on. There were times when Will would go a little overboard with it, but usually Will was pretty good at being the camp’s head healer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo then looked up from his plate, and it took him a few seconds to realize where they were, if the small conveyor belt was anything to go by. He recognized almost all of the machines and workbenches in the giant room that they were in, along with the fire in the forge that he had left burning just hours before. He did not think that the fire would still be alive after all this time, but the wood inside of the forge was at its last bark, so it would soon die out in no time. Out of all the places that Nico could have taken them, he decided to bring the pair to Bunker 9, Leo’s favorite place to be in camp. Whether he would like to admit it or not, Leo spent way more time in here than need be, but he liked working in his so that he could be with his creations. Sometimes, he would work on his own personal projects, but most of the time he would be working on things for other people. For example, he glanced at one of the work benches and saw so many projects almost done and just beginning, and his fingers began to itch with the want to go over and continue his work. Someone at the last counselor meeting said that they should put motors on some of the canoes or boats so that they could go further out into the river, and Leo had jumped on the chance to help out. Another bench showed that the Aphrodite kids wanted better different colored lighting in their cabin, so Leo was beginning to make his own LED lights just for them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a few moments, he was completely enamored with his projects, until he remembered that he did not walk from the party all the way over here, he was in fact brought to him by a certain demigod who he had promised a dance to. He glanced over back at Nico, who was looking around as well, but his eyes were more intrigued with the Bunker 9 than anything else. Now that Leo thinks about it, only a few people in camp have the privilege to come in here, and he honestly did not consider Nico to be one of them. Not that he had a thing against the black haired demigod, it was just that they were not close enough for Leo to be comfortable to let him come in and out whenever he wanted. If Nico had ever asked him for a tour, Leo would have said yes without hesitation, but the paler demigod was not the type of person to do something like that. But now that the curly haired brunette thought about it, he was sure that Nico had come in here once or twice before. Maybe with Jason or something? Yeah, that seemed about right. It happened a few days ago, when Leo was working on the motorboat, he and blonde came in because the son of Jupiter needed a type of tool for arts and crafts. The son of Hephaestus was not paying much attention at the time, and the two other male demigods were in and out, not touching anything, which was a good thing. Leo did not like when people touched his creations.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He turned back to the son of Hades, and found that Nico was looking directly at him now, with an unsure look on his face. When Nico realized that Leo was staring right back at him, the black haired demigod then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, looking everywhere but to the curly haired boy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo then let out a soft chuckle. “Didn’t even know you knew about this place. Didn’t you come in here with Jason one day?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“First of all, Bunker 9 isn’t a secret, you just don’t let anyone in here besides Jason and McLean.” Nico huffs as he looks on over at the giant stereo a few feet away from them. “And yeah, I came in here with Jason a few weeks ago. He accidentally broke one of the tools that Dare was using for a sculpture she was making, and it looked like she was going to send his ass straight to the underworld. And I can vouch, I was there. So he dragged me along down here so we could get it. He tried to say hi to you multiple times, but you were too busy with whatever the hell that is.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico then pointed to one of the workbenches to reveal one of the personal projects that Leo was working on. It was nothing world changing, just an ordinary steampunk looking alarm clock that was mostly for show, as much of the contraptions and gears in and outside of the clock had no purpose only for aesthetic purposes. Leo was not the kind of builder for things to look pretty, he was the type of guy to pick functionality over looks any day, but there were a few exceptions to the fact. One thing that Leo really  thought made the clock unique was the fact that the numbers of the clock were made in greek numerals. Something that a neither a roman demigod or mortal would understand. It was just a commodity that Leo thought would be a cool thing to do.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hades took a few steps over to the work bench, and for a split second, Leo thought that he was going to have to tell the black haired demigod not to touch the piece of machinery with his hands, but Nico just leaned over slightly just to a get a good look at it. Oh. When most people looked at Leo’s work, they always had the urge to go and touch it with their hands, never really asking for permission. Leo was not really anal when it came to things like that, but it did piss him off from time to time. No one touches Rachel’s paintings after she was done with them, even when they were dry, so why did people still have the urge to touch his own creations then? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s a clock… made out of gold?” Nico asked. He then turned back to look at Leo, with curious black eyes. “Let me guess: Cabin Sevin?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo let out a small laugh as he made his way over to the son of Hades and the clock sitting on the table in front of him. The son of Hephaestus set his plate down on the workbench a few feet away from the golden clock that Nico was so enamored with. He moved the last slice of pizza out of the way so that he could begin dominating his juicy burger that had been calling out to him these past couple of minutes. As he chewed, then swallowed, he then said, “Can you blame me? They literally have portions of their cabin made out of the thing! Heard a few years ago that some kids in Cabin Eleven got in trouble for trying to pick some of the stuff off the cabin itself.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What happened?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well first of all, they couldn’t even get it off the cabin. It was enchanted and shit. And second of all, we all know not to mess with other gods' cabins, and they pissed off Apollo himself. But since Apollo is one of the nicer ones, all he did was tell Chiron what they were trying to do, and they had to not only clean the entire cabin, but they had to repaint all of the chariots in the armory.” Leo gave out a cynical chuckle, but Nico did not seem so amused. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If all of that happened, then how were you able to get some of the gold yourself then?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Excellent question, my lovely Skullboy! But I can’t answer that question without my lawyers present.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t call me that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo laughed as he pushed himself off of the work bench, and made his way over to the sound system that Nico had been looking at just moments before. But as he walked towards it, even though he had his back turned from the son of Hades, he felt Nico’s black eyes on him as he walked.The sound system itself was something that Leo was so proud to look at he could actually cry if he actually had a heart. There were four speakers, two stacked ontop of eachother on each side, and in the middle was not only an amplifier, but a CD and cassette player. He had built this thing just about a month after the war, and the reason he made the thing so giant was because of the size of the size of Bunker 9. Most of the bunker was just open space, but it was about the size of an aircraft carrier, maybe even more. Leo liked having space, but the size ratio of the room did get intimidating from time to time if he was being honest with himself. But that was why the sound system was so large, it had to be loud enough to be able to be heard clearly anywhere in the bunker. But he was thinking of instead of just having four giant stereos in one spot blasting out music, he could have multiple ones laid out and around the bunker to have more of a surround sound effect. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Next to the right side of the sound system was a crate of CD players and cassette tapes from the 1990s and early 2000s. The crate had no real organization to it, and Piper had let him know that everytime she wanted to play something on the stereo. He would get to it one day, but right now, he could still feel Nico’s eyes on him. As Leo rummaged through the crate trying to find the right song, it took him a moment to realize just how fast his heart was beating. He glanced back at Nico to see if he was really still looking over at him, and in fact, the son of Hades was now standing a few feet away from the clock with a patient look on his face. His hands were still inside of his jacket and was slightly slouching his body backwards in a comfortable position. Leo turned away and kept rummaging, ignoring how dry his lips were. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just when he was about to curse himself for trying to find the right song, his warm brown eyes caught a cassette tape, and he smiled to himself. Leo gently grasped at the tape, and made sure that Nico did not get a good look at the title of it, even though the tape itself was only a little bigger than the palm of his hand. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What song is it?” Nico asked lowly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know you're from the 40s, but ever heard of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Back to the Future?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo stepped over to the sound system and turned it on, and the machine came to life. The sound system and amplifier was all digital, and it gloed with a nice red tht Leo customized just for himself. The son of Hephaestus then raised his tan hand and pressed the eject button of the cassette player, taking out the tape he was listening to earlier today, and tossed it inside of the crate filled with CDs and other tapes. Yeah, he knows he contributed to the mess, but he did not care, especially when he had Nico a few feet away from him expecting a dance. He gently slid the cassette tape into the player, and just when he was about the press play, he looked up at the lights above him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus then shot up from his spot in front of the sound system. He glanced at Nico who had taken a step back due to Leo’s sudden movements, but the curly haired demigod had a different thing in mind. He quickly joggs all the way to one of the walls of the bunker, leaving the son of Hades in his spot, and hopefully Nico would not move. Leo made his way over to one of the fuse boxes of the bunker and hurriedly opened it, trying to find the fuse for the lights on the ceiling. He flicked those lights off, and for a split second, the entire bunker was engulfed in darkness. But he did not want to scare Nico, even though his dad was technically the king of darkness. His fingers skimmed until he found the emergency lighting switch, and he flicked it on. Some of the lights on the ceiling and some on the wall turned on, and the entire bunker was engulfed in a slightly dark warm orange lighting. It was the kind of warm where it reminded him of a sun setting or rising. Leo would sometimes do this only because the blinding white lights on the ceiling of the bunker was not entirely relaxing. But he only did this rarely because having dim lighting was not the best to work under. He could see Nico now looking all around him at the dim orange lighting, and Leo could not help but smile at how curious he looked even from all the way over here. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Boom. Mood? Set. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo cruised back over to Nico with a little more suave then what was actually necessary, and simpered at the pale son of Hades. He then leaned down in front of the sound system and slid the cassette tape in place, promptly pressing play. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo stood and took a few steps towards the son of Hades, who had ceased looking at all the newfound lights in front of them, and directly at the curly haired demigod. Leo stopped about a foot away from the black eyed boy, putting his left hand at the base of his back and offering the other to the fellow demigod. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Since you’ve brought us to my lovely abode, I think it’s only fair that I take the lead, right?” He said softly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico stared at the hand for a few seconds, and Leo thought that he would have surely shadow traveled away and leave the son of Hephaestus lonely for the night. The son of Hades took off his jacket and threw it over onto one of the workbenches behind them. The black haired boy then reached out and gingerly grasped at Leo’s finger tips, and even though he did not feel heat like everyone else, he could have sworn his fingertips were burning right then. Tan and pale fingers then intertwined softly, grasping at one another until their hands were fully connected, palm to palm. The two of them fixated on their connected hands for a few moments, both of them unmoving until another smile reappeared on Leo’s face. The curly haired demigod then removed the hand that was resting on his back and moved it to the son of Hades’s hip. Nico was slightly surprised by the clear movement, and glanced down his body at the hand. Leo was going to ask if this was all right until the black haired demigod just took a deep breath and put his other free hand on Leo’s shoulder gently grasping it. The two of them were still a respective distance from one another, and Leo did not want to push the son of Hades out of his comfort zone any more than he wanted to. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Earth angel, Earth angel, will you be mine?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>My darling dear, love you all the time.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After a few more seconds, Leo found the right rhythm, and began to move his foot, and Nico followed insuite. Leo found that Nico was looking down toward his feet unconsciously, but the son of Hephaestus wanted nothing more than to look into those dark black eyes and ask him a million questions. Nico di Angelo was such a mysterious kind of guy, and Leo did not know that he wanted to know more about him until right at this moment. If Rachel had some weird ass Oracle voo-doo moment and told him that he would be dancing alone in Bunker 9 with none other than Nico di Angelo himself, he would have told her he believed in the Prophecy of the Seven more. Leo does not know what he had done to get to this moment, but he was glad that he did somehow. But what he really wanted to know was why did Nico say yes to his invitation to dance. Yes, Leo knew that there were not a lot of people who particularly liked the son of Hades, but Leo thought that was kind of hypocritical. Nico had not done anything inherently wrong to anybody. Was he creepy? Yes, he could be at times. Yet there was something special about him that Leo could not get his hands on such yet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The curly haired demigod didn’t realize that he was staring off into space until he looked back toward the son of Hades and found he was staring right at him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You kinda got lost for a second…” He said quietly. “But it was kind of cool how you were gone, but were still able to keep the rhythm.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He called him cool. Leo grinned at the fellow demigod. “You know me, Nico. I’m a man of many talents.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Earth angel, Earth angel, the one I adore</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Love you for ever, and ever more.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m glad you’re back in the land of the living, but is there a particular reason you chose this song, Valdez?” Nico asked unimpressed. “Because if you can’t tell, I’m not dazzled in any way.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo snickered, something he realized he has been doing alot around the son of Hades tonight. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, </span>
  <em>
    <span>di Angelo.</span>
  </em>
  <span> I just thought that this would be a song that you would like to move your body to.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico’s nose scrunched. “Don’t say it like that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Say what? Move your body? Didn’t know you were a blushing Mary, di Angelo.” He said coily. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I fell for you, and I knew</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The vision of your love's loveliness.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I hope and I pray, that some day</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'll be the vision of your hap, happiness.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not. I may be from the 40s, but I’m not a nun like my sister.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ha, I literally said the word ‘bitch’ the last time I was in front of her in New Rome, and she began to fan herself like I just defowled all women! Can you believe that?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can. That’s why I try not to cuss around her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Earth angel, Earth angel, please be mine.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>My darling dear, love you all the time.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Nico?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, Leo?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why did you say yes?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico was smart enough to know just what Leo was referring to. The son of Hades looked away from the curly haired boy and off to some point that Leo knew he could never find with his own eyes. “No one has ever asked me to dance before. Don’t know when the next time’s gonna be.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, uh…” Leo began to stammer. “Whenever there’s another party, I’ll always ask you to dance. You’re actually not half bad at it, di Angelo.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And for the first time all night, Nico di Angelo actually let out a small smile. “Thanks, Leo.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Ba-dump. Ba-dump.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Leo ignored his heart, and kept on smiling. “Or, you know, whenever you want. I didn’t build that giant sound system just for me you know.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re too generous, Mr. Valdez.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anytime, Mr. di Angelo.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I fell for you, and I knew</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The vision of your love's loveliness.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I hope and I pray, that some day</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'll be the vision, the vision of your happiness.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I actually… kind of like this song.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ha! And you were giving me shit earlier! It’s a classic!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The song?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, and the movie it comes from. Well, technically the song came out thirty years before the actual movie did. But even so, it’s still a classic either way.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Back to the…?” </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Back to the Future! How long have you been in this century and you still haven’t seen it?” When Nico shook his head, Leo nodded. “Okay, well, basically it’s about this high schooler who's friends with this really smart doctor who has this car that can go back in time. And this movie was made in the 80s, so they would be going to the 1950s, you get me?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Kind of…” Nico honestly looked like he was trying to understand, but he still looked confused. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, uh… I don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>just </span>
  </em>
  <span>have a cassette player, you know, I actually have a TV in the back over there.” Leo nudged his head over to the corner of the bunker, which held a metal door which led to another room. On the door, there was a sign that read, </span>
  <em>
    <span>DO NOT ENTER, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but all it was was an office that Leo converted into a TV room. Nico’s dark black eyes trailed over there as well, and that curious look in those rondures came back again, and the son of Hephaestus could tell that he liked the way they looked when they had that expression in them. “You, uh, come over and watch it sometime…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just the two of us?” He asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo almost tripped over his own foot before he caught himself, leaning on the son of Hades for support for a few seconds. Nico did not seem to mind though, as he gently put Leo back in his place. The curly haired demigod then cleared his throat and said, “I’m sure Jason would like to come, or something. But he doesn’t really like sci-fi a lot, he’s more of a western kind of guy.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico nodded his head. “Tell me about it. I don’t understand why though, they’re so boring.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly! For the first part of those kinds of movies literally nothing happens, until there's this random standoff for the town, and someone ends up dying. And somehow there are always Native Americans in the mix somehow.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I take it Jason doesn’t make McLean watch these kinds of things?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nope. That’s why he has us for.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two of them snickered to one another, and that was when Leo realized that the song was beginning to come to an end. He did not want this dance to end and that was what surprised him the most. The son of Hephaestus knew that he took a risk when he asked Nico to come and dance with him, but he was glad he did so in the end. At least now that they got to know each other a little better they won’t have to be awkward around each other around camp now. Nico always steered clear of people anyway, but he was with Jason from time to time, so it was nice to know that the son of Hades had someone he could rely on. He knows that Percy tries to be someone that Nico could rely on, but Leo knows that there was history between the two of them. The curly haired demigod did not know the full details, but he knew enough to know that the son of Poseidon was the reason that his sister passed. But now, hopefully, Nico knows that he had someone else to rely on that was not a son of the Big Three. And that was obnoxiously heroic. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Leo?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re doing it again. The getting lost thing.” Before Leo could open his mouth and respond, Nico then said, “I’m kinda interested in that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Back to the Future </span>
  </em>
  <span>movie…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo felt his heart begin to beat faster. “Yeah?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And I don’t really have a DVD player or anything in my cabin-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“DO YOU WAnt to watch it here?” Godsdamnit he didn’t mean to yell! The bunker had roared with the sound of Leo’s voice, and echoed even more for a couple of seconds. Nico’s black eyes went wide for a split second before they went back to their regular normal size. Leo needed to catch himself and he needed to do it </span>
  <em>
    <span>fast. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“W-what I meant to say was that do you want to watch it here? I mean I could always install a DVD player in your cabin if you want. But then you don’t have a TV or anything, so I’d also have to find a TV for you to be able to watch it on. Or maybe I could just get you a laptop and I could download it illegally from one of my pirating sites. But don’t tell anyone I do that kind of thing because the government thinks that me downloading a pirated film is the same thing as stealing a car-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was rambling. Fuck. “Is that a yes…?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All Nico did was smile. “It’s a date.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A… DATE?!?!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And that’s when Leo’s hair caught on fire. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, oh, oh, Earth angel, Earth angel, please be mine.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>My darling dear, love you for all time.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico jumped back a few feet, with his black eyes so wide that they were bigger than Olympus itself. Nico landed in front of one of the workbenches, in fact, it was the one with the golden clock sitting on top of it. With his back facing the work bench, the black haired demigod held on to the edges with his palm, with an unsure look on his face. His arms felt so empty now that Nico was gone from them, but he decided to stop yearning for a moment and focus on the task at hand. Which was to control the small fire that was coming out of his head. Thankfully, it was just a few fires scattered throughout his hair, so it was not anything that he could not handle with the palm of his hand. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t panic!” The son of Hephaestus cursed to himself and began to pat his head furiously, making sure that all of his expletives were in spanish so that the son of Hades did not understand what he was saying. Spanish and Italian were close in language, but the curly haired demigod was pretty sure that they were far enough to where they had their own curse words. But either way, he did not want Nico to think he was this unclassy person with the mouth of a sailor, his mother did not raise him that way. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once he finished patting his head with a bit more force than what was absolutely necessary, he looked on over to the son of Hades, who had a small smile on his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nico?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A noise came out of the son of Hades lips that Leo swore was a giggle. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico was straight up giggling at this point, and Leo did not know what to do. The son of Hades removed one of his hands from the edge of the workbench and threw it over his face, with the giggles becoming more muffled then what they were just before. He had just witnessed Nico chuckle just a few moments before, now he had the privilege to hear the black haired demigod straight up </span>
  <em>
    <span>giggle? </span>
  </em>
  <span>What had he done tonight to be so blessed? Either way, Leo was not going to waste the opportunity. As he slowly made his way over there, and began to laugh as well, not only because he was such a doof that he made his own hair catch on fire, but because of how happy Nico was at the moment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo stood next to the son of Hades, leaning his butt on to the workbench and crossing his arms. “It’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>funny.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you kidding me?” Nico removed the pale hand from his face and looked over at the son of Hephaestus. “I don’t laugh a lot, but that was fucking funny.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If Nico did not laugh a lot, then Leo would tell as many jokes as he could just so that he could hear him laugh all of the time. “Maybe it was a little funny.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a little while longer, the two of them did not say anything else. The song of the cassette player was at the end, but the sound system had an automatic replay button, so they were listening to the song all over again. The two demigods did not say another word to each other for a while, just stood next to one another in comfortable silence as the music played again. It was nice to just stand next to Nico and just simply exist, Leo could do it all the time if the son of Hades would let him. He did not expect that he would be having as much fun as he was at the moment, especially with Nico of all people. But he was glad that he was able to have these kinds of moments with the black haired demigod. From time to time, Leo would peer at the black haired demigod when he knows the other was not looking, and he would see the curiosity in his eyes as he looked at the bunker around them. Maybe he should ask him if he wanted a tour or something oneday, give him the proper welcome… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico then pushed himself off of the table. And turned around to look at Leo, who was still leaning on the workbench with his arms crossed. “I should go.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If disappointment was a person, it would have punched him in the face. “Why? I can dance all night.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico shook his head, and Leo could have sworn there was a disappointed look on his face as well. “I was in sword training with Jason all day, so I’m kinda tired. And I’m sure you’re getting missed at the party.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” Is all Leo said. He then stood up straighter. “Yeah I guess you’re right.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico nodded his head and reached for his jacket on the workbench behind them. Coincidentally, the jacket was thrown just a few feet away from the golden clock, and that gave Leo an idea. As Nico put his jacket on, he reached for the golden clock, and picked it up with both of his hands. The time watcher was way heavier than what he expected it to be, but then he remembered how much of a pain in the ass it was to build the thing because of its heaviness. Nico then looked back up at the curly haired demigod and down to the clock in his hand. He then looked back up and Leo and asked, “Do you need a ride back to the beach?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, but uh…” Leo shook his head. The engineer then stretched his arms forward with the clock in his hand. “Here. Take it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico’s eyes were so wide that Leo thought they were going to come out of his eye sockets. The son of Hades put his hands up midway and shook them in the air in opposition. “Leo, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>take that-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nope! It's already decided. What am I gonna do with this thing anyway?” He said with a smile on his face. “Take it. Please. I’ve seen the way your cabin looks and I can’t guess what would be on the inside.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico still had an assailing look on his face. “Leo-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was always meant to be a gift.” He said over the other demigod. “I just didn’t know who to give it to.” quicker because this thing was getting helle heavy, and he was not as strong as Jason around here. But once the ha</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico shook his head, and for a while, he just stared at the clock in his hands. But Leo thought that he needed to think rd look in the son of Hades’s black eyes soften for a second, Leo knew that he had won the fellow camper over. Nico then took a step forward and put his fingers over the son of Hephaestus’s, and Leo got that burning feeling again over his fingertips. He probably should have warned the fellow demigod thought it was a bit heavy, but once Nico had it in his hands, he had a strong grip on it, and he knew it was not going to fall on the floor. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks, Leo.” Nico said, with a small smile on his face. Welp, it’s been a good life. Thanatos can take his ass now because he could now die happy.  “See you around, Valdez.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo did not know what else to say, so he decided to keep it simple: “Bye.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico shook his head again, and with the heavy clock in both of his hands, he turned around, letting the shadows all around him swallow him up and disappear completely to another place. Leo stared at the spot that Nico had left in and the only thought he had left in his mind was: </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cool.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After Nico left, it was just him, the dim orange lighting of the bunker, and the sound of the music that kept repeating. He replayed everything that just happened in his head, and he still could not believe that this was his new reality. He didn’t know what to do with himself at the moment, even though no one else was here to speak to, he was truly at a loss for words on what to do at the moment. It was such an impulse to give Nico the golden clock, and he had to force the piece of machinery on the son of Hades, but it was worth it in the end just to see the young boy smile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He should probably start heading back to the beach now, the party was probably starting to wrap up and he did not need Piper down his throat saying he ditched them with clean up. He grabbed the plate that was on the corner of the workbench and grabbed the only slice of pizza that was left on it, and took a bite. He made his way over to the cassette player and took out the tape, but before he did, the last line of the song sang: </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Mission</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter took soooooo much longer than I honestly expected it to. If there are mistakes, I'll do my best to fix them.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Chapter 2: The Mission</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Leo:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After Leo had left Bunker 9 last night, he made his way back over to the beach, which was about a five minute walk if he was quick about it. But with what had just happened to the curly haired demigod, he was in a rush to go anywhere. And when he arrived back at the beach, the party would still go on for a couple of hours more, with the music still blaring and everyone having a good time. He took the reins back from Will Solace, who looked grateful for the fact, as he had been temporary DJ for more than an hour, much more than he had intended. Leo had kept being the same Dj that he was earlier in the night, playing the same music and putting out the same kind of energy, but his demeanor changed slightly. He moved his body more slowly, and his deep brown eyes had this glaze over them for the rest of the night, but thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed. But he thinks Piper did, and after the party was duty, and they all began to clean up, she asked him where he had disappeared to. He had told her that he needed to go to the bunker real quick to check on something, and that seemed to be a good enough answer for her. He did not like lying to his friends, but he knows that this was not a lie that they would mind. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo had woken up this morning in Bunker 9 with only one person in mind, and that person was none other than Nico di Angelo. If the son of Hephaestus was being completely honest with himself, the black haired demigod had completely swooned the fire wilder right off his feet. And that was saying something, considering the fact that Leo was the one that was leading them while they were dancing. The fellow demigod had said that no one had ever asked him to dance before, well shame on the entire human race then! They did not do any groundbreaking moves, but Nico was an excellent slow dancer, he would ask to dance with him as many times that could be possible on this Earth. And he was so surprised at the fact as well, for someone who did not look like he could even hold a move, Nico stepped up to the challenge. Well, he was not forcing the son of Hades to do anything, but they had a good time together nonetheless. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or at least Leo thought he did. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus made his way up the steps of the Mess Hall, noting that he was a bit more later to lunch then he would have liked. After the party was over, most of the campers stayed behind to clean up, which was a good thing, but he stayed up the rest of the night to finish working on the motorboats he had promised Chiron and the rest of the camp. Leo found the thought funny, because Piper had specifically told him to head straight to sleep once he got back to Cabin Nine, and he had full intentions on doing so, but his fingers began to itch again. Bunker 9 had a garage entrance, and before Leo had discovered it, the entrance was blocked off by rocks and nature, hidden to the rest of the world. Leo, along with some of the Demeter kids, were able to move the flora out of the way to get the Argo II out of the bunker. That was the entrance that Leo used last night, and he left it open to get some fresh air in there. He did not go to bed until the forest outside became engulfed in twilight, and that was when he fell asleep on the cot near the sound system. The curly haired demigod did not wake up until the rays of the morning sun hit him in the face, and he took a shower and was on his way to lunch. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he entered the Mess Hall, he was greeted with a loud wave of demigods of all ages, already halfway through their lunches and chatting about an abundance of different things. Most of the older campers were talking about the party last night, which was a huge success to everyone, and that made the son of Hephaesus feel a bit successful. As he made his way over to his table, he spotted Jason sitting alone, which was not odd. The tables in the Mess Hall were ordered by parentage, so with Jason being the only son of Zeus, or Jupiter in this case, he would usually sit alone. But sometimes, Leo or Piper would break the rules anyway, and sit with him. And today was one of those days. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo had an eerie smile on his face as he tiptoed behind the blonde son of Jupiter, stopping just about a foot away from him. Once Leo found his opportunity he jumped on Jason’s broad shoulders and shouted into his ear. “Jason!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Jupiter’s entire body jolted for a moment, and for a second, Leo thought that he was going to get punched in the face at seeing Jason’s light hand that was just holding onto a spoon get quickly turned into a fist. But when the blonde looked over his shoulders and at the son of Hephaestus, he let out an easy sigh and smiled up at the curly haired demigod. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t scare me like that! That’s how you get stabbed with spoons.” Jason said, going back to the soup in front of him. Leo just let out a light laugh before he sat in front of him, waiting for a nymph to come over and give him his meal. Jason knows very well that this was not the table he was supposed to be sitting at, but he would of course not complain. Leo was one of his best friends, and the dark brown haired demigod knows that sitting with your best friend is better than sitting alone. Jason then says, “Piper was asking about you this morning. Is there a reason you’re getting here now?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo had a feeling that Jason already knew the answer to that question, but he would play along to what the blonde was trying to do. “I was working on finishing the prototype for the motorboats, kinda lost track of time. You know how it is.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I’m very well adverse in sleep deprivation.” If Leo was not looking directly at the small smile that was beginning to form on Jason’s lips, he would have thought the blonde was being wholeheartedly serious. “If I remember correctly, didn’t Piper tell you to head straight to bed, and not do exactly what you just said?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Que sera, sera!” Leo said. “The only ones who can judge me are the gods above!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Jason was able to say anything else, and Leo did not really want him to because with just the look in the blonde blue eyes told the brown eyed demigod that a lecture was coming on, a nymph came in front of Leo and gently placed a few slices of pizza in front of him. It was a thin rust, Leo’s favorite, with pepperoni and jalapenos. Leo’s mouth watered at the sight, and he was glad that the nymphs knew that this was his favorite meal of all time. He knew that it was not the healthiest, and Miranda Gardiner from Cabin Four had told him this many times, but he always restored her with the fact that even though she was all for nature and shit, why was she not vegetarian or something of the sort? Leo then glanced over to Cabin Four’s table, and actually saw the head counselor going in on some chicken wings with more force then she honestly should have, and that was the moment that Leo wished he would have had a camera.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus then turned around, and saw the son of Jupiter looking off in some unknown direction. When Leo followed his brown eyes to where Jason’s were aiming at, he took a breath in. The blonde was looking at a Cabin Thirteen’s mess table, which was as barren as the hole in Leo’s heart at the moment. It was halfway through lunchtime, Nico should be here by now, where the hell was he? Yesterday, he said he was tired because he was sword training with Jason all day, and that must have been something. The blonde sitting in front of him taught sword training to the younger campers, and bringing Nico along, someone who was really skilled as it was, must have been interesting. But even so, to miss lunch? Now that the son of Hephaestus thought about it, he never really noticed the son of Hades when he was here in the Mess Hall on other days. He was too busy dealing with his other siblings or talking with his friends to really notice. Did he even eat here at all? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then another thought came into his head. Did he really know Nico well at all? He never really spoke to the kid until last night, which was one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Nico was such a cool guy, he should have started being friends with him a long time ago, he was just so distracted with </span>
  <em>
    <span>life </span>
  </em>
  <span>to even do it. But other than Nico having a tragic anime backstory that Leo still did not know much about, there was still so much that he wanted to know. And getting to know the elusive son of Hades was not going to be easy, considering the fact that di Angelo was only close to a few number of people… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ding-ding.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>An idea sprung into his mind at that very moment, and Leo knew that he was now on mission. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Jason kept peering over at the empty table, Leo picked up one of his slices as casually as he could and took a bite. With his mouth slightly full, he asked, “Worried about, di Angelo?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason’s head did a complete forty-five, with his blue eyes wide through his clear glasses. The blonde then let out a small, nervous chuckle before he rubbed his hand that was not holding onto his soup spoon on the back of his neck. “Was it that obvious?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You just kept looking at his table like he was just going to appear through the shadows. And oh, I’ve seen him shadow travel or whatever he calls it and I have to say: it’s cool as shit.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t it?” Jason brightened at that. “A lot of people think it’s creepy, but imagine being able to travel wherever you wanted in a second? That’s cool if you ask me.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm.” Is all he says, biting deeply into his slice. A jalapeno burned the tip of his tongue, but Leo enjoyed it nonetheless, that’s what made it good. “Where is he, by the way?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason shrugged his shoulders. “Sometimes he’s here, sometimes he isn’t. He likes to show up when he wants to.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So when does he eat?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He tends to skip meals, and I can’t figure out if it’s because he genuinely forgets about it, or if he’s trying to starve himself.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hades </span>
  </em>
  <span>no. So what Jason was trying to tell him was that Nico did not eat three meals a day like everybody else. Now, Leo was not completely innocent when it came to this sort of thing, there were plenty of times when he had forgotten to eat while he was working on one of his projects. Usually, it would be Piper or one of his friends or siblings to remind him that he needed consumption to survive, he would eat without a problem. Last night was a perfect example, when he was being a DJ for most of the party and Solace had to come up to the booth stand and remind him that he needed to eat something. That would explain why the son of Hades was so skinny, but the curly haired demigod had always equated that to his own situation. Leo was the kind of guy that could eat almost anything and still stay skinny, much to Drew Tanaka’s dismay. But even though Nico was skinny, he was not a sickly thin that most people would associate some to skip meals with. In fact, Leo had nice view of the black haired demigod with the close proximity of how they were last night, and he could safely say that he was in fact had some muscle under that black skull shirt he always wore- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nope. Uh-uh. He was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>going to go there right now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo looked down at his small pizza, and picked up another slice, putting it in his mouth. As he chewed, Jason went back to his soup, which only had a few spoonfuls left. After he was done with his slice, Leo then asked coolly, “Did you see him at the party last night?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I didn’t.” Jason looked up from his soup with a small shake of the head. “Did you?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo did not answer until he was finished with his slice. “Uh, yeah. I did.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really?” He asked. “Did you talk to him?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was at that moment when Leo realized he did not want to lie to his friend, but he was most certainly not going to tell him the full truth of what happened last night. He does not know how the tall blonde was going to react, and Leo did not have everything he needed to know if he was truly going to pursue Nico di Angelo. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When Will took over for DJ for a while, I saw him around the edge of the forest as I was trying to find a place to sit. I waved to you before I got my food, remember?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I was dancing with…” Jason glanced over at Cabin Ten’s table for a milliseconds before he looked right back into the son of Hephaestus’s warm brown eyes. Yes, Jason, it was when you were grinding your body on your girlfriend’s during a rave song. Leo then had a small knowing smile on his face, and that's when the son of Jupiter cleared his throat. “Hm, I remember.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m glad.” Leo said, sarcastically. “But, yeah, I spotted him and walked on over there. And we talked for a while.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“For real?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. He’s actually a cool guy once you get to know him.” Leo remarks, honestly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That… that makes me so happy.” Jason then sat straighter, with a smile so big that it exposed all of his perfectly white teeth. Leo had the urge to start wearing sunglasses at how those teeth were beginning to blind him wherever he looked at them. But nonetheless, Leo just scrunched his eyes at the blonde, not really knowing what to say to him. When Jason caught on to Leo’s confusion, he then quickly said, “It’s just that he doesn’t have a lot of friends, I’m like his only one here. But if you two become friends or something, then that would be awesome! My two separate friends actually becoming friends is like the best thing ever!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The thing was, Leo was not even Nico’s friends yet. No matter how much he wanted to be, the curly haired demigod would admit that the two of them just were not there yet. But Leo will hold onto the fact that they have acquaintances, and they were now a little more than that because of last night. Yet wanting to completely skip over the friendship part of their relationship was a jump that Leo was more than willing to take. “Yeah. I get what you mean.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you guys gonna hang out soon?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, if you guys plan anything, let me know! I’m sure we could watch a movie or something!” The blonde says with a hopeful smile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo smiled at the blonde as well, but the only reason for his apparent happiness was not because of the thought of three demigods huddling up and becoming friends. If the Fates were on his side and Nico would actually want to spend time with him, he sure as hell would not have Jason coming along and ruining it for him. Now, don’t get him wrong, he loves his best friend, but give a guy a little room to himself, you know? “Sure, man, whatever you want.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And for the rest of the lunch, the two of them began to speak about more trivial things then anything else. Jason spoke about how he was going to teach more sword training today, like the days almost everyday. Most of the campers that went to Jason’s lessons were either some of the older kids who did not have a knack for fighting, or the younger campers who were just starting out. The son of Jupiter had a knack with working with the younger campers, and that was why most of the female campers dubbed the guy as ‘husband material.’ Leo did not think much about that kind of stuff if he was being honest with himself. The son of Hephaestus liked kids, he really did, but he chose to avoid the younger campers if they were not his siblings. He was just the kind of guy who did not work well with kids, and his friends did not believe him. They tended to tell the curly haired demigod that he was great with some of the younger campers, but he was not so sure. Maybe when Leo had some kids of his own he would feel different someday. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once most of the campers began to come out of their seats and walk out of the Mess Hall, that was when the son of Hephaestus noticed that lunch was over. He had finished his whole pizza anyway, so he did not have much to worry about in that matter, but he was wicked thirsty. Maybe he’ll stay behind for a second and ask one of the nymphs if they could bring him out a soda or something. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Have anything on the agenda for the rest of the day?” Leo asked the blonde. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason nodded his head. “Yeah, I got sword training again at the Arena. You?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m as free as a bird, Jaybird!” Leo answered. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lucky you…” Jason remarked. Suddenly, the tall son of Jupiter looked down at the seat next to him, and cursed to himself. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is it?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason just shook his head, and reached for whatever that was on the seat next to him. Once the son of Jupiter lifted his hand up, it was revealed to be some sort of knee pads. The knee pads in question seemed to be well used, but they are all black with scratches and dirt on them, signaling to the curly haired demigod that they have been used a lot. Leo was not a fighting kind of demigod, but he has been in the armory many times to know that those kinds of knee pads were not the usual that was stocked there, so it posed the question as to where his best friend had gotten them in the first place. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know what you’re thinking: they’re Nico’s.” The engineer’s pointy ears went up at hearing the son of Hades’s name. “He let me borrow them. Chiron had just ordered some more knee pads because all of the ones in the armory were almost no good. They’re supposed to be coming tomorrow so Nico let me borrow them yesterday.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aren’t you gonna be sword training though, so don’t you need them?” Leo inquired. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason then shook his head. “It’s supposed to be a smaller class today so they’ll be more in the armory, and I don’t want to just keep using his stuff.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So what’s the problem? Give 'em back if you're so anal.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Class starts in five minutes. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>how I feel about being late.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yes. Leo does. Jason made him and Piper wait almost a full hour at the Big House because he thought that a meeting with the head counselors was going to start early. It was moments like those when Leo had the urge to just go up to Cabin One and set the whole place on fire, but he was a better person than that. But then a thought popped into Leo’s head again, and the son of Hephaestus realized that a lot of thoughts and ideas have been coming into his head lately, and he doesn’t know if that was a good or bad thing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. I’m very familiar with your OCD.” Jason gave the brown haired demigod an unimpressed look before Leo just shrugged his shoulders. “I could take them for you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason stood straighter. “Really?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Totally. Just remember next time when you think I’m a selfish son of a bitch, think of how generous I can be.” Leo said, smiling as he took the knee pads out of Jason’s hand. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The blonde then checked his watch. “I gotta go. Thank’s Leo, you’re the best.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know.” Jason then gave the shorter boy a thankful smile before he stood up from the table and began to hurriedly walk away and head towards the arena. Leo then looked down toward the knee pads in his hands, before he looked over at the empty soup bowl and pizza plate in front of him. Realization then dawned on him, and before Jason was out of ear shot, Leo stood up and yelled for him. “Hey, Jason?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah?” The blonde turned around with a curious look in his eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What does Nico like to eat?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-000- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The song of Hephaestus was now headed toward Cabin Thirteen, with the knee pads hanging from one of his arms as he held a bowl of fruit with both of his hands. As he walked, he got curious looks from campers as to why he was holding a random bowl of one particular fruit in his hands, but Leo was not the kind of guy to be easily embarrassed, so he just smiled at them and continued to be on his way. Besides, this was the food that Jason said Nico liked, so Leo would walk a thousand miles to get this to the son of Hades if need be. Leo was not the one to stereotype, but when he had asked Jason what Nico liked to eat, he expected the all blonde to say spaghetti or lasagna or something of the sort. Leo did not know much about the elusive son of Hades, but when the son of Jupiter said that the black haired demiod liked to eat </span>
  <em>
    <span>pomegranates, </span>
  </em>
  <span>all he could really do was scrunch his head and nod before the blonde ran off to teach his classes. Leo did consider the fruit to be food, but he was more leaning on an answer that was an actual meal, not just a single fruit. But either way, he was not going to bring something to the black haired demigod that he was not going to eat, so he had one of the nymphs kindly bring him out a small bowl of the fruit out to him, and he took it gratefully. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Leo stepped in front of Cabin Thirteen, he took note on how depressing the cabin was to look out on the outside. The building was completely black, with only a few windows and one door in the center of the porch of the cabin. There were a couple of chairs on the other end of the porch, with them being completely black with no room for color whatsoever, much like the rest of the cabin that Leo was looking at. There were two gargoyles on each side of the cabin, both looking down at Leo with intimidating eyes, both holding torches that sprouted green fire. If they were real creatures, Leo would have been afraid, but since they were nothing but made out of stone, the curly haired demigod did not think much of them. Leo does not know who built this place, but he wanted them to know they have failed in their design motive, and that his eyes wanted a complete refund. No wonder so many campers never wanted to come over here, the place was a literal haunted mansion. But if Nico liked it, then Leo would shut up and deal with it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The curly haired demigod then walked up the steps of the cabin, ignoring the glaring looks that the gargoyles were giving him, and took a step towards the door. Leo held the bowl of pomegranates with one arm against his body, and knocked on the black wooden door. There was a screen door between the wood and Leo, but the son of Hephaestus just hoped that the black haired demigod would be able to hear him. Leo waited a little while, but when no one came to the door, he decided to knock again, with a bit more force this time. When no one came to the door again, something in Leo’s stomach began to drop down toward the floor, and he was going to knock again, before- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shut up, </span>
  </em>
  <span>I’m coming!” The wooden door then swung open, revealing none other than Nico di Angelo. “Valdez?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo wanted to live a long life, he really did. Being a demigod, there was no telling just what might happen when it comes to staying alive, it was just something that they had to accept. But at that moment, as Leo held the bowl of fruit and knee pads in his arms, he stared at the son of Hades, and if Zeus struck him right then, he would die happy. It was clear to the curly haired demigod that the fellow male had just woken up, even though it was almost going to be one o’clock in the afternoon. Nico’s black hair was usually straight, much in contrast to Leo’s dark brown curly hair, but right at this moment, it was sticking out at all ends, obviously formed due to sleep. Nico was wearing a jet black shirt, not the usual one with the skull on it, but one without, and Leo guessed that this black garment was a sleeping shirt, not one he would go out and wear in public. But the thing that </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>set Leo off was the fact that Nico was wearing no pants, just black boxers, which exposed the son of Hades’s thin pale legs. None of the girls in camp could even compare the beasty that was Nico’s legs, they were thin, but they were formed with muscle, like he was a runner of sorts. The Hermes kids better watch out, Nico was in competition. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hades pulled the wooden door back and opened the screen, so Leo could get a clearer look of him. It was clear to the curly haired demigod that he had just gotten out of bed, as his black eyebrows were a mess, and Nico still had some crust of drool on one corner of his mouth. Nico’s black eyes trailed down to the bowl of fruit in Leo’s hand, and the confusion on his face was apparent. “What are you doing here?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Didn’t you hear? I’m now a child of Hermes.” Leo smiled as he held the bowl with one arm again, and raised the black knee pads in front of Nico’s face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are those mine?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo nodded. “Me and Jason had lunch together and he didn’t have time to come and give it to you. So, me being the blessing that I am, decided to bring them to you. And food!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I… thanks, I guess.” Nico reached out and took the knee pads with one hand and the bowl in the other. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, prob, Skullboy! If you ever need anything else, just my delivery service at 555-6969. Have a blessed and prosperous day!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus then turned around, and walked off the porch with a smile on his face. Leo was not going to say anything else, he was just going to drop the two of those off, and be on his way. He did not want to make Nico think that he was this pushy person or anything, Leo knew that friendships take time, or whatever the hell kind of relationship he wanted from the black haired demigod. Especially Nico, who seemed so closed off to everything around him, Leo knew that he had to be gentle when it came to the fellow demigod, no matter how much he wanted to go full esteem ahead… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo was only a few steps off the porch though, when he heard, “Hey, Leo!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus turned around, looking back at the son of Hades, who had an unsure look on his face. Nico’s black eyes glanced behind him into the cabin, and that unsure look became even more apparent, but either way, Nico asked, “Do you want to come in?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>HELL YEAH HERMANO. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo just shrugged his shoulders. “Sure.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the son of hades turned back around, the curly haired demigod jetted up the steps of Cabin Thirteen. Nico had a surprised look on his face at the fire wielder’s sudden movements, but he did not say anything, just stepped out of the way and let the fellow demigod inside. As Leo stepped inside, he took note on how there was one pair of shoes near the door, and he guessed that was where Nico put his high tops when he came home. Leo was not one raised to not have manners, so before he stepped fully inside, he took off his boots and put them nicely next to Nico’s black hightops. But when Leo fully  entered the son of Hades’s cabin, it took everything in him to not laugh, especially when Nico was closing the door behind him. In front of the son of Hephaestus was a very black room, and he was not being over dramatic when he said that. Every little thing in the room was black, or in some shape or form a variant of grey or white. There were not a lot of things inside of the cabin, just a couple of beds and a sofa area that had a black couch with Leo's name on it. And when Leo said a ‘couple of beds,’ he only means two that were adjacent to one another on the back wall of the cabin. But the thing that </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>made the son of Hephastuss feel a certain way was the fact that the beds were </span>
  <em>
    <span>literal coffins. </span>
  </em>
  <span>No, he really was not joking, they were queen sized beds, but in the shape of coffins and with wood around them. The frames of the beds looked like they were supposed to be the cover of the coffin, they even had skulls on the top of them for garnish, but Leo did not know if they were real or not. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo still does not know who built this place, but he could surely blame Nico for keeping this kind of interior design while he lived here. Even though there were a couple of beds and a sofa area, this cabin still felt so… empty. Leo knows that Nico was lucky to be a son of the Big Three, and even though it comes with a lot of responsibility, there were still perks to it. One, they get to have awesome powers, and two, they got to have their own cabin, which is a lot. Privacy was something that not a lot of campers had these days, if not at all. And even though he loved his siblings, there were times when he wanted to strangle them by the neck, and that was when he would run to Bunker 9 and escape. Leo was lucky that he was able to have Bunker 9, as he sort of kind of claimed it when the war was going on, and he did rediscover it, so finders keepers, he guesses. But not a lot of other campers had that, especially places like Cabin Eleven, where there were so many demigods of different parentages that Leo lost count at times. He knows that over the past year, Chase has been working on more cabins for some of the minor gods and goddesses, and she’ll get to work right when she comes back for the break, so that was a positive. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But there was one thing though that caught his eye. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Next to one of the beds, the one that had its black sheets a mess and pillows ary, there was a black wooden night stand. Leo knows that the bed had to be the one that Nico slept on, because there was a black aviator jacket lying on the corner on top of it, and the other bed adjacent to it looking untouched. Leo guessed that that bed had to be Hazel’s, but she did not come to Camp Half Blood much due to the fact that she was a very important official over at Camp Jupiter, but Leo did not have time to think about it right now. On top of the wooden black nightstand was the golden clock that Leo had given Nico the night before, being the only source of color in the room. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something in Leo’s heart began to beat. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hard. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Di Angelo, I’m gonna be honest-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t be.  I already know.” Nico walked across the cabin and towards his bed, putting the black knee pads on the same wooden night stand that the golden clock was sitting on. The son of Hades stared at the clock for a couple of seconds, probably thinking the same thing that the brunette was thinking, but he removed his eyes from the time measurer and sat down on the bed. Nico put the bowl of fruit down on the bed in front of him and began opening one of the pomegranates. “When I was thirteen, I thought this place was cool, that black was the answer to everything. And now I come back years later and want to vomit.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo laughed as he made his way over to the sofa on the same side of the room where Nico’s bed was. The sofa area had a carpet on it, one that was actually grey to contrast with the black wooden floors, and the son of Hephaestus jumped and belly flopped on top of it. Leo’s face landed right on one of the black fluffy pillows on the carbon colored couch with a huff. He sighed into the pillow at how comfortable he was, until he looked up at the blach haired demigod, with a smile on his face. “It’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>bad, the couch definitely makes up for it. Besides, I think it suits your luminous personality.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That earned the fellow demigod a pomegranate to the face, but Leo was fast enough to dodge it in time, putting a black pillow between him and the incoming fruit. Leo had a scandalized look on his face, but all Nico did was stick out a tongue at him and kept going at it with the fruit that he was currently eating. But all Leo did was laugh as he looked down towards the floor and picked up the fruit that was thrown at him, and he began opening it as well. He sat cross legged on the couch as Nico peered over at him with his black eyes, but Leo ignored his gaze. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was a compliment, di Angelo!” Once Leo got the fruit opened, there really wasn’t a place to put the peels, so he just put it on the armrest of the couch, hoping that Nico wouldn’t mind. “And the fruit was supposed to be a gift! How dare you use it against me?!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I only invited you in because I felt sorry that you had to be a delivery boy. But that was supposed to be a compliment?” Nico pondered, obviously not convinced. “No wonder you’re alone…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll have you know, Nico Francisco di Angelo-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t even have a middle name-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo did not let him finish his sentence as he kept talking over the black haired demigod. The brown eyed demigod waved the fruit dramatically in the air, trying to make a scene, but Nico did not persuade Leo’s little act in the slightest. “Don’t you know that I saved the world? I have everything girl and guy in this camp dying to get with me, don’t be mistaken dear child!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something in Nico’s face changed for a moment, a look that Leo could not quite place. It was like that stoic look that always graced the son of Hades’s features completely disappeared, and was replaced with something that Leo did not understand, at least until Nico asked, “Even guys…?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo’s warm brown eyes looked down at the fruit that was in his hand, and he picked one of the seeds and put them in his mouth. He chewed for a couple of seconds before he looked back up at the son of Hades, with an even bigger smile on his face. He said confidently, “Even guys.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was now Nico’s turn to look down. He then said quietly, “Okay.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two of them were silent for a while, entering this comfortable silence, or at Leo was comfortable. The son of Hephaestus kept munching on the seeds of the pomegranate without a hitch, feeling the sour, but also sweet, taste hit his tongue every time he put one in his mouth. But as he ate, he could see the son of Hades not put another seed in his mouth, but instead looked down at the bowl as if the fruit was going to start talking to him. The black haired demigod had the most contemplative look on his face, the most concentrated that Leo has ever seen him. The engineer had a feeling of exactly why he was making that face, but Leo had to remind himself that life was way different than it was in the 1940s. Hell, there were people today who thought that not being able to choose who you love was wrong, but when one enters the greek or roman world, all that misogyny disappears. There was still so much misogyny in the world that Leo wanted to pull some mortals all the way up to Olympus and show them the fucking United Nations that were the Olympians. Like, Aphrodite’s thing was that her looks were ever changing, so one time Leo saw her with kinky brown hair and chocolate skin, and the next time he saw her she had straight blonde hair and ivory skin. Either way, she was hot as hell, so Leo wasn’t complaining.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo found himself shoving his fingers into the pomegranate with a little bit more force then he honestly needed to, but he did not care. Of course Nico would be worried about dating someone of the same gender as him. Leo does not know what it was like in Italy in the 1940s, but from what he knows from history and from what </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hazel herself </span>
  </em>
  <span>tells him, it wasn’t pretty. And here we are, seventy something years later, and it’s gotten a little better, but it was not a world that the son of Hades deserved to be in, especially with how much he’s fought to not only stay alive, but for the people around him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo?” The curly haired demigod was still chewing angrily into his pomegranate seeds as he looked up at the son of Hades. Nico no longer had a contemplative look on his face, but instead, it was now a cautious one. “You good?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You just looked really mad for a second there… did something happen?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Awe shit. Leo shook his head and tried his best to smile, but it felt more strained than anything. “I’m fine, just thinking about something.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mind telling?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Rather not.” He answered truthfully. Leo could have sworn he saw a disappointed look on the black haired demigod’s face, but it was only there for a second for Leo to be really able to catch it. Nico then just nodded his head and reached for another pomegranate, already finished with the one he had been picking at before. It was at that moment that Leo needed a change in the conversation, and he needed it fast. And that was when a spark of gold caught his warm brown eyes. “How are you liking the clock?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico looked up from his fruit and immediately looked at his nightstand, eyeing the golden clock with a lopsided smile. “Did you even account how heavy the clock would be since it’s made out of solid gold? I almost dropped it when I got here last night.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not really. I was too focused on the fact that adding gold to a clock would be totally awesome.” A cynical smile then appeared on Leo’s lips. “I guess you could say that my time is… </span>
  <em>
    <span>valuable.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico stared at him. “You did </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>just-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But I did, my dear Skullboy!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t call me that.” Nico scolded, but he soon just put a pale hand to his face and rubbed it, looking tired for a second, before a small smile appeared on his face. “You’re such a loser.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But I’m your loser!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever. You going to the bonfire tonight?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo scrunched his eyebrows at the young son of Hades. “Bonfire?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico rolled his eyes. “Yes. It’s Friday. I’m not surprised you don’t even know what day it is, considering that you spend all your time in that bunker.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m </span>
  </em>
  <span>the antisocial one?” Leo laughed. “Says the guy who avoids social interaction at all costs.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico made the motion to throw the pomegranate in his hand, but it was more of a threat than anything else. Leo found the look of exasperation on Nico’s face endearing, especially how he kept rubbing his face as if he was tired. That was when Leo had just remembered that, yes, Nico looked like he had just gotten up for the sake of the curly haired demigod knocking on his door, so Leo would not blame him for looking as tired as he was. Hell, Leo knows that every camper in this place has had some insane sleeping hours, to the point that Leo woke up at three in the morning after going to sleep at five in the afternoon. It was nuts. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo nodded his head. “Yeah, I’m going. You?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico shrugged his shoulders. “Probably not.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the son of Hades didn’t elaborate on a reason why, the curly haired demigod then asked, “Why not?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, if you haven’t noticed, not a lot of people like me. So I avoid going to things like that at all costs.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about that kind of stuff! Besides, if I’m there and people start giving you shit or looking at you weird or whatever, I’ll just set them on fire, no biggy!” The son of Haphaestus says sitting up straighter in his seat. But the son of Hades did not look so convinced. “C’mon! We don’t even have to sit </span>
  <em>
    <span>at </span>
  </em>
  <span>the bonfire, we could even sit on the porch of your cabin!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think Chiron has a rule of setting other demigods on fire and stuff.” Nico says. “But to be so far away from the bonfire and sit on my porch? That’s kind of weird…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now it was Leo’s turn to roll his eyes. “You’re not really giving me much options here, man. Pleeeease?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He tried giving the best puppy dog look he could to the other guy from his spot on the couch, putting the fruit down on his lap before he clasped his fingers together. Nico shook his head and peered over at the son of Hephaestus giving him a blank look for a while. The son of Hades just scowled before he said, “Fine. But we’ll sit </span>
  <em>
    <span>at </span>
  </em>
  <span>the campfire, not on the porch like some weirdos.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo shot out of his seat and smiled. As much as he wanted to stay and spend more time with the black haired demigod, he did not want to overstay his welcome and say something weird. He will take what he could get, and he just scored him a bonfire with none other than Nico di Angelo. As Leo began walking towards the door, he felt the son of Hades eyes on him, he turned around and kept walking backwards. “You won’t regret this, Skullboy!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why do I get the feeling I will?” Nico said, standing up and stretching. As the son of Hades did so, his plain black t-shirt raised a few inches, revealing his pale stomach. And yes, Leo was totally looking when he thought the black haired demigod was not noticing as he put his shoes back on.. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Leo was done with his shoes, he stood up and found that one pair of black eyes were looking at him curiously, and he smiled. “But before you go, you should really do something about that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico’s jet black eyebrows scrunched. “Do what?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The whole not wearing pants thing.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico down to his legs, and a look of surprise engulfed his face, before he looked back up at the son of Hephaestus with nothing but pure rage. His face was as red as an apple as he reached for the bowl of pomegranates and grabbed on with his hand before he clumsily threw it at him. “Why did you didn’t say anything, Valdez?!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo ran out of Cabin Thirteen so fast he would have been mistaken for a child of Hermes instead of a child of Hephaestus. He kept avoiding pomegranates even when he was full outside of the cabin, but even then, he just kept on running, laughing maniacally. Some campers looked over at him with varying expressions, with some having concern for the curly haired demigod, and others seeming mildly confused with the fact that there were fruits being thrown at him as he ran out of Cabin Thirteen. But Leo did not care, he felt so free, so </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive </span>
  </em>
  <span>at that very moment. He did not stop running until he reached the garage of Bunker 9, still laughing even when there was no one around him in the empty forest. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-000-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For the rest of the day, Leo spent it in some sort of trance. It had been such a morning, or at least early afternoon considering the time that he went out into the world. Especially since he got to see Nico, especially him without his pants on. But the strange part was that he did not really think about what kind of underwear the son of Hades wears, but when he really thought about it that would be a strange thing to think about someone with no pants on. At least they did not have skulls on them, not that Leo would care he probably would have found them cute, but he was thinking of saving Nico from any more embarrassment. But seeing the black haired demigod’s face when Leo had told him he had no pants on was priceless, notably when he looked down and the look of bewilderment graced his pale features. His face was so red that Leo had the urge to compare it to Mars, but even then, he thinks that Nico’s face was redder. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He did not leave Bunker 9 ever since Nico had decided to attack him with those pomegranates of his. And even though the event had occurred just recently earlier this afternoon, he knows it was going to be a memory he would cherish for eternity. When he ran out Cabin Thirteen, he did not have a clue of where he was running towards. He was just so happy that he really wasn’t even paying attention as to where he was going, but he was paying attention to how he was feeling. Leo knows that he does not know Nico di Angelo that well, only a few select people do, but he wants to be one of the people to be close to him. And even though Jason has been the son of Hades’s friend for almost a year now, Leo thinks that he and Nico had gotten a little closer faster than Jason and he did. There were a lot of people that have hurt the son of Hades, a certain son of the sea god comes into his mind, so he was aware of the fact that Nico had trust problems or something of the sort. That was why Leo was always cautious not to push the black haired demigod out of his comfort zone, but at least try to make him do things that he had not done before. Maybe that was why Leo was so enamored with doing things with Nico, he wanted to be the son of Hades’s way of experiencing things he hadn’t before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But once he got to the bunker, he really could not focus on anything else. He tried working on some of his other projects, like fixing things for single campers or having something to do with some of the cabins, but he couldn’t really focus on anything truly substantial. Instead, he chose to keep working on the motorboat he had promised everyone, and just kept working on the prototype until the bonfire started. He was sitting in front of one of the workbenches as he worked on the engine of the motorboat. He still hadn’t actually put the motor on the boat yet, but with a little bit more work he should be finished by tomorrow morning. Now, he just needed help from some other campers to help him bring it to the lake. He sure as hell was not going to bring it to the river, that was too dangerous. No, testing out his engineering in an enclosed area is the best way to go about to it, to keep people safe. He did not want the death of a drowned camper on his hands… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Leo was about to finish up, he heard a knock from the otherside of the bunker, and he quickly looked in that direction. He left the garage door open so that some fresh air could come in, as it was surprisingly cool compared to yesterday night when everyone was hot as shit and Leo wasn’t bothered by it in the slightest. But standing at the door was none other than Piper McLean, one of the only best friends he had ever had. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course.” Is all the daughter of Aphrodite gave him. She smiled as she walked over to him, stopping just a few feet from him and leaning on one of the workbenches next to him. “I asked Jason if he told you about the bonfire, but now he tells me you’re a delivery boy.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo puts the wrench down in and grinned at her from his seat. “What can I say? Just goes to show that I'm just a blessing on this earth. Speaking of Superman, shouldn’t you be at the bonfire with him?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Piper shrugged her shoulders. “And what? Just spend my time without you there?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>You didn't miss me much at the party yesterday. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus twisted in his sea so that he could fully face her. “Oh, I see. You’re here to remind me how single I am.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really? I could have sworn yesterday that you were preaching to me about how you have everyone in the camp wrapped around your finger.” She said with a smug look on her face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And I don’t?” He challenged with a smile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Piper just let out a chuckle and shook her head. “Look, I’ll admit that you’ve become quite a looker his past year, but we can stay here and talk about your love life, </span>
  <em>
    <span>or </span>
  </em>
  <span>we could actually go out and have some fun.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo knows that there was no point in arguing with her, he has been in this situation many times before. This has not been the first time that one of his friends had found him tinkering in here when they had other things going on, and he knew it was not going to be the last. So Leo just stood from his seat and put his hands up in the air and looked up to the ceiling, feeling some of his joints cracking as he did so. The movement reminded the son of Hephaestus from earlier today, when he was in Nico’s cabin. The son of Hades had gotten up from the bed and stretched, revealing some of his pale stomach as his shirt rose because of the movement. Leo had the urge to walk across Cabin Thirteen and just rub his hand on the stomach just so that he could feel the soft skin for his own, but he knew that would have been creepy as hell. Even though the two of them had danced with one another, they were not all touchy touchy uf he caught his drift. The two of them had kept a nice distance of space between them, and Leo only did it because he wanted to be respectful towards the black haired demigod. But for some reason now, Leo always wanted to touch Nico. And not in a creepy way either, but just dangle his fingers between his straight black hair, or glide his hand on the cool pale skin. And hey, this went both ways too, he would love for Nico to play with his curls. That would be epic. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Leo was done, he looked back down from the ceiling and at his friend, who was just waiting patiently for hmi to be ready to leave. Leo does appreciate that she came all this way over here, she didn’t really have to do that. But as he looked at her for a couple of more seconds, a question popped into his head. She probably could have tell that he was going to ask something, because the curly haired demigod felt his face become slightly more serious. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo?” She asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m gonna ask you a question, and I don’t want  any lip, ya hear me?” He said, pointing at her with a gloved hand. The daughter of Aphrodite nodded her head, obviously intrigued with that the curly haired demigod had to say. Leo let out a long sigh before he asked, “So you know when you’re making plans with someone and they say, ‘it’s a date?’ Is it like… actually a date?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“OH MY GODS-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“VOLUME WOMAN! I only have two sets of eardrums and I don’t build myself hearing aids!” Leo yelled back at  her. “But that would be a good idea… I heard Diondre from Cabin Five needed some…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo!” Piper pushed herself off the workbench and made her way over to him, with a smile that was so huge that it went from wall to wall. “Focus! Who is it?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who’s what?” Leo looked away at the wall again, and he found himself looking at the fuse box that was hanging on the far side of the bunker, the same one he had used when dimming the lights when he had danced with Nico last night. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t play with me, Valdez!” Piper said, nudging him in the shoulder. Even though the push was as gentle as it could come, Leo still took a step back and grabbed it, with a displeasurable look on his face. “Your whole demeanor changed when you asked me that question. I just want to know who was the one that finally got my best friend ready to jump off a bridge if they asked. And what kind of question is that to ask </span>
  <em>
    <span>me, </span>
  </em>
  <span>a daughter of Aphrodite?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It has nothing to do with your mom. It’s a simple question is all Beauty Queen.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo, I’m this close to wringing your neck-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And didn’t I say no lip?!” Leo remarked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At this point, Leo regretted even asking Piper the question, but it was just something he needed to know. He had a feeling that when Leo asked him to watch </span>
  <em>
    <span>Back to the Future </span>
  </em>
  <span>with him, that Nico was going to say no, but the son of Hades had indeed said yes to him. He had gotten so excited, that his hair had caught on fire. That only happens when Leo gets super emotional about something, typically when he gets mad, or when he was excited or happy. Usually, when it's the former, he runs all the way to the river or lake and jumps in, just for everyone’s safety. But he did not expect Nico to say yes, the son of Hephaestus was ready to be rejected, but he was not ready to give up on the black haired demigod. If Nico had said no to him about seeing the movie, then Leo would have just found another way to get closer to the shut out demigod. It had taken Jason a whole while to become friends with Nico, and Leo does not know if he would have ever gotten that far, but he made it here somehow. Now, he was not going to say that he and Nico were outright friends at this point, but with their interaction after lunch today, where Nico was so comfortable around the curly haired demigod that he had even forgotten to wear his pants. And that was a sight that Leo was going to burn into his mind so that he could never forget. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But he should have expected that Piper was going to have a reaction like this. She was a daughter of Aphrodite, after all, this was what her heritage was all about. The only other person who he was actually close with in the camp was Jason, but the tall blonde sucked when it came to romance. Even though the gods had royally screwed them over in their own individual ways, Jason had been given a super hot girlfriend. He did not have gone through first dates, first kisses and all that crap that comes with it. And Jason knew that too, and whenever there was a conversation about romances or dating going on in camp, the glasses wearing blonde went silent whenever the topic came up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Piper shook her head after a short while of silence, but she still had a smile on her face. Leo walked back over to the workbench he had been engineering on just a few moments before and took off his gloves. He had his back facing the daughter of Aphrodite when she had begun to speak. “When someone says ‘it’s a date’ they usually mean it to be, but it’s really not. So when two people make plans and one of them says ‘it’s a date,’ they mean that they're happy to go with you, but that does not mean it’s a date, it never is. It’s honestly in the context of what he or she means. Like if I need to go to the DMV and my friend wants to go with me, and I say ‘it’s a date’, it’s not really, you see? But if I suggest going out to dinner or see a movie, then maybe it is.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo turned around, having a thoughtful look on his face, but ultimately came to the conclusion: “Sounds confusing.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is gonna sound cheesy, but love always is.” Piper admits. “I’m not a professional at it like some of my siblings claim to be, some of them can;t even keep a relationship for a few days, but that’s a topic for another day. But back on topic, it is kind of confusing, but like I said before: context.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Context.” The curly haired demigod repeated. “I get what you said: The term ‘it’s a date’ is all about context. Whatever the first person suggests is what determines if it’s a date or not.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly.” The brown haired demigod nodded her head, seeming happy that he was getting on to what she was trying to say. She then said excitedly, “Now, who is it?!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo knew that there was no use lying to her, but he did not think he needed to tell her just what. Just like when he was having lunch with Jason today, he did not need to tell her everything about his relationship with the son of Hades. He does not know if he was even going to swoon the black haired demigod, he didn’t even want to get his own hopes up, let alone Piper’s. He doesn't even know how she would react if he told her he had growing feelings for Nico, especially when Piper herself thought him to be a little weird. He was not blaming his friend for thinking that, hell, even he thought it before he truly got to know the son of Hades, but he thought the daughter of Aphrodite would at least know a little better than to trust what the rest of the camp says, especially when she was friends with someone close to Nico like Hazel. He did not expect her to be so shallow, but she was. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I…” He started. “Just let it go, Piper. At least for now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?! You can’t just ask me a daughter of Aphrodite that and expect me to-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Piper!” Leo said, he was surprised that his voice even went lower a few octaves as he said the girl's name. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Piper looked as surprised as Leo himself thought he looked, and took a step back. “Wow, I’ve never seen you so serious. Well, I have, but never when it came to stuff like this. You're usually drooling on some of my siblings in public like nothing, but now you’re nothing but a school boy with a crush.” She said, putting her hands on her hips. She stared at him for a few moments, her kaleidoscope eyes shining various colors. “Fine. I’ll let it go for the sake of us not being late to the bonfire. But I want deets, Valdez. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Deets.” </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever.” He said, happy that the conversation was being dropped. “Ready?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re going like that?” Leo looked down at his clothes. It was the usual white dress shirt he always wore with the orange shirt underneath and his suspenders. It did not take Leo long to figure out that she was referring to all the black grease marks on his clothing, but the son of Hephaestus did not care. “There are literal stains on your shirt, Leo.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing they haven’t seen before.” Leo began walking towards the entrance of the bunker, with a disapproving Piper behind him, leaving the motorboat and all of his other projects behind for the night.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-000-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the rest of the walk towards the bonfire, the two of them had kept the conversation light. There was really nothing serious to talk about, as there have not been any world changing quests or something for them to discuss. But Leo did not care, he was glad that the gods have left all of them alone for a while, at least with anything big. Of course, there were still small quests, like some god or goddess misplacing their favorite toga and making three of them cross the country to go get it. His brother Jake had to do something like that last week, but the last he heard they had gotten whatever the hell they needed to get and were now at Camp Jupiter waiting for their next ride to get back at camp. As they walked, he could see that Piper kept glancing over at him when the conversation had gone silent, but she had not said a thing. It was obvious that she wanted to ask just what the hell that entire conversation was about back at the bunker, but Leo was not going to give in. the curly haired demigod knows that the entire topic was something that Leo himself never really dives in for, or talks about with his friend, so he knows that bringing it up would cause surprise. But he did not want to give her false hope or anything like that, so  he would tell her when he was ready, and tonight was not going to be the night. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thankfully though, Piper did not say anything when they had arrived at the bonfire, which was full of campers. Every Friday night there was a bonfire held, it was one of those things where it was not on the schedule, but it just happened, like an unspoken rule. Leo comes to these things about every other week because he was so busy with his work and projects, but it was nice to come every now and then. As the two demigods stepped closer, they could see that there were campers sitting on the logs surrounding the bonfire with even some campers sitting on the floor considering that there were not many logs for them to sit on. Leo could see Jason sitting on the other side of the fire with two empty spaces next to him, along with Travis Stoll on one side, and Drew Tanaka on the other. Stoll was busy talking to another camper, not paying attention to the altercation that was going on next to him. Drew, at the moment, was trying her very best to get close to the blonde son of Jupiter, but Jason kept pushing her back one arm. Even though he had a smile on his face, Jason looked uncomfortable. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He heard a soft growl from the daughter of Aphrodite standing next to him, and she quickened her pace, quickly walking ahead in front of him. Leo just laughed as he made his way over there, not rushing like his best friend had just done. Jason looked relieved when he saw Piper quickly closing in on the two demigods and with Leo following a few steps behind her. Once Piper was standing right in front of them, she put both hands on her hips and stared down at the two of them. Jason smiled up at her, with a genuine smile this time, but Drew acted as if the other daughter of Aphrodite was not there, and just kept looking at the son of Jupiter like he was a cheese in a rat trap. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Drew.” Piper said slowly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm?” The straight black haired demigod did not look towards her sister, but straight at the blonde in front of her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you just not?” Is all his friend says to her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Tanaka looked up at Piper, that lustful look in her face completely disappeared, replaced with a look of annoyance. “Oh, I thought it was someone </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually </span>
  </em>
  <span>important.” Piper’s hands slowly balled into fists, but the other daughter of Aphrodite ignored her and looked right at Leo. She then had a bright look in her dark brown eyes, looking actually happy to see the son of Hephaestus. “Valdez! Just the guy I was looking for! Is my vanity done yet?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo just shook his head with a small smile forming on his lips. As he went to sit down next on the other side of Jason, he could see that the smile on his face was annoying the other daughter of Aphrodite, but he ignored his friend and looked over at Drew. “I just finished installing the lights the other day. Just mindrape one of the Ares’s kids to come pick it up for you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Drew let out a chuckle. “You can be a little shit sometimes, Valdez, but I’ve always kind of liked you. Don’t get why you hang out with a waste of beauty over here.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Drew.” Piper says again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? Jason’s strong enough to push me off. Maybe he doesn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>me to go, hmm?” The dark eyed girl then looked over at the blue eyed blonde. She tries to push herself closer to Jason, but the glasses wearer was strong enough to keep her at bay. She then says to him, “I know you two have been dating for what? Like a year? And you still have this vanilla crap going on! Why are you tormenting him like this?!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okaaaaay, we are definitely </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>going to go there.” Piper didn’t say anything else, she just grabbed her sister by the shoulders and roughly pulled her off of her boyfriend, much to Jason’s relief. Drew went back to her spot with a disgusted look on her face, mostly because of the fact that Piper actually touched her. But Beauty Queen did not care and promptly sat in the space between Jason and Drew, looking at her sister as if she dared her to say something else. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Drew was not the kind of girl to back down so easily, but it seemed that she was losing interest in the game that she was playing. Tanaka rolled her eyes and looked back down at her nails and said, “Fine. I’ll let you go for now, Grace. But if you ever want something a little less vanilla you know where to find me.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know, I’ve always been a chocolate kind of guy.” Leo said to her. Jason gave Leo a surprised look, probably forgetting that he was even sitting on the other side of him since he was so distracted with Drew. The same dirty look that Piper was giving her sister earlier was now being directed to the son of Hephaestus, but it was more softer than before. But Leo was not one to care all that much so he just kept smiling at the girl. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I like chocolate </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>vanilla. Depends my mood.” Is all Drew says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo thought that he joke was funny, and he kept chuckling to himself then looked over to the other daughter of Aphrodite. He did not know what kind of reaction the girl would have considering that the joke was not all that good, just something to say to lighten the mood. But Drew had a small smile on her face either way, and he does not know if it was because of the joke, or if it was because of something else. Her dark eyes went up and down his body for a little while, and Leo found himself growing slowly uncomfortable. He and Drew Tanaka were not exactly friends, but they have always been cordial to one another, or at least as cordial that one could get with Drew. They always had a wall between them, and that wall was his friendship with Piper. He always found that kind of unfortunate. Even though Drew was a straight up mean girl and could be a real bitch at time, Leo found that he enjoyed the sly remarks from time to time. Call it the cynical side of him. Piper was not the kind of person to dictate who Leo could and could not be friends with, but he knows that if he ever started something with Drew, it would definitely put a wedge in their friendship. But he would not replace his friendship with Piper for anything in the world, so even though it was unfortunate, he would stick to being cordial with Tanaka for Piper’s sake. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The oil stains make you look like a greaser.” When she was done examining his body, she looked at him right in the face through her long eyelashes. “You're kinda hot, Valdez.  Don’t let anyone take that away from you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She then turned away, not paying any of them another glance. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The three demigods just stared at her back, not knowing what to say. Jason and Piper both had confused looks on their faces, and were glancing at one another with obvious looks of confusion. Why the hell were </span>
  <em>
    <span>they </span>
  </em>
  <span>the ones confused? Drew Tanaka was the one that had just called Leo hot, not them. Jason and Piper were already attractive as it was, Leo was not, and that was a fact. But even if Leo knew that, it did not stop the son of Hephaestus to pick up one of the tin cups in front of him and give himself a good look in the eye. Even though it was dark outside, the fire in front of him illuminated his features rough so that he could get a clear view of what he looked like. Leo did not know what to expect to find, it was just the face he had gotten used to looking at every morning when he brushed his teeth, nothing else had really changed except the grease stains that were on his face. There was really no other way to say this, but Leo knew that he had the typical hispanic look that many Americans thought hispanic people looked like. He had warm brown eyes, tan skin, and dark hair. Latinos came in all shapes and sizes, but Leo always thought he looked kind of basic when he compared himself to his culture. His only true defining feature was his curly hair, but other than that he thought he looked normal. But Will Solace had complimented his skin tone on many occasions, saying that the only reason he spent so much time in the sun was so that he could get that warm tan, similar to the one that Leo had, so there was always that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo kept looking at his face for a while, trying to find something, </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything </span>
  </em>
  <span>that would give him a clue to what the daughter of Aphrodite had meant. There was nothing special about the way that he looked. He joked about having the best body in camp and being the sexiest, but he was always joking, he never really meant it. Of course, he could just ask the daughter of Aphrodite just what she meant as she was simply sitting next to Piper, just not paying attention to them anymore. And Leo was going to do just that, but when he looked up, he found himself staring into kaleidoscope eyes. Piper, for whatever reason, had a worrying look in her eyes, but Leo could not pinpoint just what was going on in her mind. Jason sat between them, so he kept glancing back at the both of them with a war expression, clearly not knowing what to do. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But in the end, Piper was the one that spoke first, “Leo-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nico?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo and Piper’s eyes shot away from one another to look over at the blonde sitting between them. Jason was looking off in front of him, and when he did, he felt his heart jump into his throat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because standing in front of him was none other than Nico di Angelo. Well, Nico was not </span>
  <em>
    <span>technically </span>
  </em>
  <span>in front of them, but he was leaning on a tree a few yards away from the bonfire. The son of Hephaestus thought it was ridiculous that he was standing over there by himself when he could have been sitting right next to Leo, even though both spots next to the curly haired demigod were taken. He could not ask Jason to move, but he sure as hell would find a way to get Travis Stoll to sit on the floor with his brother a few feet away from them. But going back to the black haired demigod, the son of Hades was wearing his usual get up: the dark ripped jeans, the high top converse, the black t-shirt with the skull on it. Even though Nico had his hands in his jacket pockets, Leo knew that he had those metal rings on his fingers, especially the big skull one on his middle finger. Leo could have sworn that he saw a closet somewhere in Cabin Thirteen when he was there earlier today, but he was obviously mistaken. Nico was a son of Hades, yes, but that did not mean he had to always wear black like he was going to a funeral, not that Leo cared though. The curly haired demigod thought that Nico was the kind of person that could look good in anything, so he did it really think it mattered just what the black haired demigod chose to wear. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ugh, did Leo even hear himself? Ever since he danced with di Angelo yesterday, all of these cheesy ass lines and pick ups kept going through his head nonstop like a broken record. Why was it that every time he thought about the son of Hades it has to be about how Leo just wanted to sweep him off his feet? But who wouldn’t? From where Leo was sitting, he could a single strip of moonlight glide across the paler demigod’s white skin, making Nico’s skin literally fucking gliesten in the night. Some Aphrodite kids would kill to have skin as healthy and beautiful as that, and Leo himself wishes that his largest organ could do something like that in the moonlight. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But after a while of staring at the son of Hades, Leo found himself wanting the black haired demigod closer to him. But to achieve that, he had to get rid of the son of Hermes sitting next to him. After spotting Nico, Jason looked like he was going to stand up and walk over there, but Piper started to have a conversation with him, and that left the son of Hades forgotten. The thought pissed Leo off for a second, how easy it was for his two best friends to forget about their other friends from time to time, but that was a thought for a different day. So as Jason and Piper were enthralled in a conversation about global warming of all things, Leo turned to the son of Hermes. “Travis.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Travis looked towards the son of Hephaestus with a small smile on his face, probably genuinely happy to see the curly haired demigod. Leo and Travis were not exactly friends, just good acquaintances. The twins had helped Leo get some materials and such ‘under the belt’ if one caught his drift, and in return he would build things for the two pranksters. Leo would never do anything that could potentially hurt someone, but he has helped the Stolls pull one over on Cabin Ten, but Leo was not ready to disclose that information. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hermes started, “Hey Valdez-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Muevete.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I need you to please move.” Leo tried his best to sound as nice as he could, but he knew his tone was more forceful than ever. “I want someone else to sit next to me.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Travis actually looked offended. “No way! I was here first!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Remember when you accidentally set one of the canoes on fire, and I told Chiron it was me?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Keep your voice down!” The son of Hermes hissed in a low voice. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I’m calling in the favor.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Travis stared at him for a long time through those warm brown eyes of his, but Leo did not back down as well. After a while, the son of Hermes let out a long sigh before he finally gave in. “Ugh. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fine. </span>
  </em>
  <span>But who is it gonna be?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s none of your-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And that was when Leo fucked up. For a split second, he looked away from Travis and over to the tree that the son of Hades was leaning on. Nico was not looking directly at any of them, but instead down to the floor, like he was deep in thought. Leo wanted to know just what was so important that he was putting on such a face for, but the son of Hephaestus was busy over here trying to fight for a seat for him. BUt the reason he fucked up was because Travis had seen Leo and looked over at Nico, and he now knew just who was going to replace his spot. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> The strawberry blonde’s light eyes went wide for a fraction of a second, but Leo does not know just what he was so surprised for. Either way, Travis turned back to Leo, but this time, he had a smile from cheek to cheek, with his eyebrows wiggling up and down. “Okay, okay. I see you, Valdez. I know when I’m not wanted. Trying to have a good night, huh?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo felt his pointy ears heat up, and it took all his might for them not to catch on fire. “It’s not that, Travis.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever. Just send me a postcard from the honeymoon, hmm?” Leo did not know just what to say to that, but the son of Hermes got up from his spot and moved over to where his brother was sitting on the floor a few feet away from them. Connor seemed surprised when his brother sat down next to him, but did not say anything, just continued talking with some campers as Travis joined into the conversation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo went back to looking over at the son of Hades, who was now looking up at the stars. Now that Leo had an empty seat next to him, he should probably call the black haired demigod over so that he could come sit with them, but it looked like Nico had other plans. From where he was standing from  under the tree with his arms still crossed, a look of realization struck the pale demigod’s light features. Leo wanted to know just what had had the son of Hades so amazed, but then the look of realization turned into something else. Nico’s face scrunched up for a few seconds before he shook his head and pushed himself off of the tree. Leo’s faint heart stopped for a few seconds, only because for a moment, Nico di Angelo looked his way, and black and brown eyes made contact with one another. The black haired demigod had a varied expression on his pale features, and simply blinked at the curly haired demigod through his long eyelashes. Leo could feel his lips open slightly, not knowing exactly what to do, but he could feel his hand origin to signal Nico to come over here. But he never got to do so, as the son of Hades’s conflicted expression soon turned to stone, and he swiftly did a 180, and began walking in another direction, leaving the son of Hephaestus behind. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was at that moment when Leo realized himself that Nico was leaving, and he could not allow that. Why was the son of Hades leaving for, the night just started? Leo even went through all the trouble to kick Travis out of his seat so that Nico could come and sit right next to him. Now he couldn’t even use the setting the canoe on fire thing as blackmail anymore, and Leo had been saving that! The curly haired demigod shot out of his seat, not looking his two friends in the eyes. His sudden movements must have brought them out of their </span>
  <em>
    <span>extensive </span>
  </em>
  <span>conversation, and the two of them looked up at him through curious eyes. The brunette did not say anything to them though, he just quietly began quickly walking over to the tree in which the son of Hades had abandoned, trying to catch up to the black haired demigod. But as he left, he could still feel Piper’s eyes on his back, but he did not turn around to look at his friend. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Leo finally caught up to the mysterious demigod, Nico had stopped walking all together. It must have been due to the fact that he could have heard Leo’s footsteps before the son of Hephaestus fully caught up to him, but he does not really know. Nico seemed to be the kind of guy who knew something was coming from a mile away, so it would be hard to sneak up on a person like him. The two of them had both stopped in between the bonfire Cabin Thirteen, but Leo was sure that no one had spotted the two. It was one of those nights where the moon was shining exceptionally bright, so he could see Nico as clearly as the moon would let him. Most of the campers were already in their beds sleeping or were at the bonfire eating smores alike, so Leo did not have to worry. But he was not afraid to be spotted with the son of Hades, Leo did not really care what other people thought of him, but he had a feeling that the black demigod in front of him did, so he did not want to cause anymore anxiety on Nico than he could. But that did not mean he was just not going to try and get the black eyed boy to sit next to him on the bonfire. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know, I find it really selfish that I had to blackmail Stoll into moving so you could sit next to me.” Leo remarked. The only other things in the woods that could be heard from where they stood were the other campers having fun at the bonfire, and the silent rustle of the trees up and around them. Nico did not turn around when Leo spoke to him, but the son of Hephaestus continued. “Seriously, I was saving that for an occasion that was actually worth something. And now I can’t. So are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>gonna let my blackmail go to waste?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a little while, Nico did not say anything. Leo would have been being dishonest f he said that the son of HAdes’s silence was a little intimidating, but he was not one to back down so easily. But soon, Nico shook his head from his spot and turned around to look at the curly hair demigod, showing off those perfect black eyes. The cool thing about the color of Nico’s eyes was that they reflected everything around them, being lit up with blues and purples as the moonlight shines above them. The black haired demigod had a stoic look on his face, and that was the moment where Leo realized that Nico was not going to the bonfire with him. Leo found it kind of funny though, how he was able to see just what the black eyed boy was thinking even though they have not known each other for long. Or maybe Leo was just thinking ahead of things, he does not really know. But he knows what he was going to say next. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico was going to open his mouth to say something, but Leo got to it first, not going to let the fellow demigod try to weasel his way out of this. “So is tonight going to be a porch night?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I-what?” Nico asked, clearly confused. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You said today that if you didn’t want to sit at the actual bonfire, then we would sit on the porch of your cabin.” Leo reminded him, with a smile on his face. His teeth shined a brilliant white as the moonlight amplified the pale colors around them. Leo stepped a few feet closer to the black haired demigod. “That’s what you said.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico stared at him, his face blank as ever. “That is what I said.” Nico then turned back around and started walking towards his cabin. “C’mon.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Leo felt giddy on the inside. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the two demigods arrived at Cabin Thirteen, Leo was ready to sit on one of the steps of the cabin with Nico along with him. There was nothing to really sit on, as the porch did not have any seats on top of it. Now Leo does not know why anyone would </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to sit here, as the two stone gargoyles spouting green fire from the torches in their hands were nothing less than intimidating, but Leo would persevere for Nico’s sake. But the son of Hades did not sit down on the porch next to Nico, instead, he headed straight inside of the cabin, and for a second, Leo thought that he was truly being ditched. But Nico had left the door open, so that meant he wanted the curly haired demigod to come inside with him, or that he would be right back out in a second. Leo did not have time to come to a conclusion, as Nico had come back out of the Cabin, this time without his jacket, and with two black beanbags in both of his hands. If Leo was being honest with himself, he was mostly looking at Nico’s now revealing arms, noticing that even though they were more on the skinny side, they had some muscle beginning to show on them. And if anyone ever asked, he would deny that he was looking. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo smiled up at the son of Hades as he stood from the steps and onto the porch. Nico placed one black bean bag on one side of the top of the stairs, and one on the other side. Leo had a smile on his face as he sat down on the comfy chair, completely forgetting that Nico had these things. When he had entered the cabin earlier today, he had heard straight for the comfy black couch and ignored these things that were right next to it. Nico had then just rolled his eyes as Leo looked up at him, and slowly sat down on the bean bag with a comfortable sigh. The two of them sat on the porch for a while with none of them really saying anything. Leo expected himself to be a nervous wreck considering that Nico was sitting a little closer than usual, but he found himself quite all right. It was not a silence where both of them radiated awkwardness, but instead it was filled with comfort. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He then said, “This is nice.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico looked at him. “What is?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just sitting here with you.” Leo said honestly. Nico ruffled in his seat as a light shade of pink began to form on his pale ears, and Leo knew it was worth telling him that. Oh, yeah. He was going to have fun with this. “Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>blushing?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut up Valdez.” Is all the son of Hades tells him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh. Guess I should say things like that more often.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You really shouldn’t. Unless you want to get a punch to the face more often.” The black haired demigod supplied him. Nico actually had a threatening look on his face, and if it was any other camper, they would have already been running. But he was used to it coming from Nico, especially when the son of Hades would tag along when he hung out with Hazel or Jason. Looks like those did really affect Leo in any way anymore, and it just made the son of Hephasutes want to pinch those pale cheeks even more. And before Leo could tease the boy sitting next to him more, Nico then said, “And what did you mean you had to blackmail Travis?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, for all intensive purposes I need you to sign a verbal contract not to tell anyone what you’re about to hear.” Leo informed the fellow demigod. “See, a verbal contract is easier since I don’t want to get my lawyers involved.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You keep talking about these lawyers as if you actually have one.” Nico scoffed. But the son of Hades just rolled his eyes again, something that the curly haired demigod was beginning to find endearing, and said, “Fine. Whatever, I agree to your ‘verbal contract.’” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo smiled smugly. “Excellent. Well, I won’t give you all the details, but a few weeks ago Travis set one of the canoes on fire and me being the generous person that I am, took the blame for it. And since Chiron always has a soft spot for me, he let me off scot free. But I used the favor and told Travis to move his ass so that you could sit next to me.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How did he even set the canoe on fire?” Nico asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That is something I’m not allowed to disclose.” Leo said, still smiling. “But either way, now I can’t use that anymore. ‘Tis the rules of blackmail.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Didn’t know you were so keen on playing dirty, Valdez.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, di Angelo.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When those words came out of his mouth, Leo himself had to mentally take a step back. Nico’s eyes went wide too, obviously not expecting the kind of answer that came out of the son of Hephaestus’s mouth. It was not just the words that had come out of his mouth, but with the way he </span>
  <em>
    <span>said </span>
  </em>
  <span>it. His voice went low and had become so sultry that he was sure that all of the Aphrodite kids at the bonfire in front of them had turned around just to see where that voice had come from. Of course, that was just Leo’s mind going wild, as the large group of demigods in front of them were too far away for them to truly see or hear them. But… it was still technically true. The two of them really did not know much about one another, except that Nico had a dead sister because of a certain son of Poseidon, and that Leo’s mother died because of him. Other than that, they really don’t know much except what was on the surface. Leo was the cute funny guy, and Nico was the dark emo kid. It made him laugh just thinking about it, and how they were so contradictory to one another, but he did not care. He wanted to know everything about the son of Hades, and he wanted Nico to know everything about him as well, even the things he does not want most people to be aware of. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo cleared his throat and looked away from those deep black eyes, over to the bonfire. He could see Jason and Piper from all the way over here, looking like they were having the time of their life talking to other campers. Piper had somehow found her way onto Jason’s lap, but there was nothing sexual about their position. The blonde had his arm around her waist as she spoke to Will Solace about something, and Piper was busy talking to Rachel Dare about a topic as well. Neither of them looked bothered that Leo had just simply walked up and away from, well they did when he got up, but they did not come and look for him. But it didn’t matter really, as he was safe and sound here on the porch of Cabin Thirteen, with his crush sitting next to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Leo had smiled at that. Crush. Nico di Angelo was his crush and he wanted to shout it out to the gods above.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The curly haired demigod shook his head and looked towards his </span>
  <em>
    <span>crush </span>
  </em>
  <span>(omg) and smiled. “Sorry. Just looking at something.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You said that Travis had set fire to one of the canoes…” Nico thoughtfully. Thankfully, Nico did not say anything about the way Leo’s voice had changed for that one moment, but he could see it in those black eyes that he wanted to. “When I was in your bunker last night, I saw one of the canoes with a motorboat on it. Was it because of the fire?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Noooooo…?” Leo tried, but with the way Nico was looking at him, he gave in. “Okay, not fully. After the whole debacle I kindly offered to try and put motors on one of them as a prototype so it would be easier for some of the handicapped campers to get around. See? I was just trying to be a good person, di Angelo!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure.” Nico says, looking completely unconvinced. “Or you just offered to get Chiron off your back.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bah!” Leo waved him off. “Either way, I’m almost done with it. Now I have to get some of the other campers to help me take it out of Bunker 9 so I can test it out in the lake.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico nodded his head. “Can’t do it yourself?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t ask me that. Have you even been on one of the canoes, di Angelo? They’re made of solid fucking wood! Now we’re adding a motor to it, so it’s like, hella heavy now!” Leo exclaimed. “And it’s not the first time I’ve asked people to help. I usually ask Jason to help, sometimes Piper if it's light enough for her. But if neither of them can help, I get one of my siblings or the Ares kids to help.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I could always help.” Nico must have felt Leo’s confusion, because he then went on to say, “I mean, maybe some with the lifting, but I can shadow travel it out.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can do that?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you not recall me taking a giant ass statute across the world? I think I can handle a boat.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You literally almost passed out when you did though…” Leo remarked, clearly concerned. “I know you don’t like to admit it, but shadow traveling takes a toll on your energy.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It does. But I’m good if I don’t use it a lot, or just on small things.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But the whole canoe? I could just ask Jason or someone else-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stopped talking. “Yeah?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m good. When do you want to do it?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo did not know what to say. At this point, Nico was not even going to let him </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>say no to helping him, and Leo was trying to figure out if the determined expression that was in the son of Hades’s black eyes was turning him on or not. But Leo then cleared his throat and said, “Okay, how about tomorrow?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We have Capture the Flag in the afternoon, how about the morning?” Nico suggested. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dude, you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>in Capture the Flag.” It was true. Whenever it came to social interaction, physical or not, Nico always ran in the other direction. “Why are you going tomorrow though?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jason asked me. Don’t know how that’s going to work out, but… I’ll be fine.” He was saying that, but his expression did not look so convinced. “Either way, I’ll be at the bunker after breakfast.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Better yet, we could eat breakfast together or something?” Leo saw the opportunity, so he was sure as hell going to take it. Nico scrunched his eyebrows at him, but that did not deter the son of Hephaestus one bit. “Yeah, yeah, I know the rules, but would your dad </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>mind if I sat at his table? You literally sit alone when you’re there, I know he wouldn’t mind one day.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico shook his head. “Fine. We’ll do it after breakfast.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All right!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico jumped at Leo’s sudden exclamation, and then said lowly, “All right.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And so for the rest of the night, the two of them sat there on the porch, watching the other campers interact with one another. They did not speak much after they made plans to test out the canoe in the lake, but that did not matter to Leo. Because right now, he was the happiest he had ever been in a long time. To have a crush was something that Leo never would have thought would be this deep, to be so… extraordinary. Sure, he was attracted to loads of people, but that had always been because he just saw what was on the outside, never what was on the in. But Nico was different, he knew he was like a broken record, but he wanted to know everything about the son of Hades. What he liked to eat, what music he listened to, what movies he liked. And since he was from the 1940s, he probably hasn’t seen a ton of movies, so Leo had to be the one to get him caught up. They still have that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Back to the Future </span>
  </em>
  <span>‘date’ that Leo had promised him. Yeah, he was going to find a way to get that ‘date’ to happen for real, and not just two friends going to watch a movie happen. No, there was going to be roses, chocolates, ROMANCE! He will not be one to disappoint Nico, that was for sure. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everytime he looked over at the son of Hades from where they sat on the porch, he always found that the noirette was not looking at the campers laughing and eating smores in front of them, but at something else entirely. Nico was looking up at the stars above, with his black eyes being a perfect canvas to reflect them with. After a while, Nico had looked over at him, and Leo did not bother to look away when their eyes made contact. Leo was not one to be shy when he was caught in the act, so all he did was wink at the pale demigod. Instead of Nico’s ears simply turning red, it was his cheeks that were now a rosy pink, and he began to rustle in his seat again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yeah, having a crush was epic. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>DUNDUNDUUUUUUUUUNN LEO HAS A CRUSH. what did you think? I'm curious to know what you think's gonna happen next ',:)',:)',:)',:)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Gift</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I literally cannot be bothered to fix the mistakes but ill try</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Chapter 3: The Gift</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Nico:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico di Angelo usually never came to the Mess Hall for breakfast, or for any eating time for that matter. There were a lot of reasons for that fact, but it was not for what most people thought it would be for. He doesn't care that he has to sit alone at a table in the corner of the room, in fact, he kind of likes it. It was better than sitting at an over crowded table like at the Apollo or Aphrodite table, and he was not the kind of person to get lonely so easily. But another reason as to why he doesn’t eat here often, was because he forgets to eat period. He knows it was a bad habit that he had to shake, but there were honestly times when he was just not hungry, so he would just skip lunch or breakfast for the day. Most, if not all, of the people he was close to always tell him that he needed to break out of that habit, but he did not really see much harm in it anyway. He knows that skipping meals from time to time was bad for one’s health, but he only did it every so often. It was not like he was doing it everyday. He would usually come in after all the campers were either doing their activities or at night and ask some of the nymphs to whip him up something on the down low, so there was really no harm. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Nico sat at his table, waiting for a certain someone, he took the time to look at the campers around him. He had walked in here when breakfast was just about to start, and had headed over to his table without anyone paying much attention to him. Even though the black haired demigod preferred to be quiet, he was not really a people watcher. He did not care what the other campers did around him, but since he did not have anything to play with, he looked over at Cabin One’s table, looking right at Jason. The son of Jupiter was typically in the same boat as he was when it came to sitting alone at lunch, but from time to time, the blonde would have one of his friends sit next to him to keep him company. But today was different, because right now his girlfriend, Piper McLean, was sitting right across from him, laughing and looking like they were having the time of their lives. It was against the rules for other campers to sit at tables that was not their cabins, but Nico always thought that was a stupid rule. He thought it was stupid that all of their lives were determined by their parents, but that was a thought for a different time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Nico was also going to have company this morning, and that person was none other than Leo Valdez. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo was… something else. He did not know the son of Hephaestus very well, other than he was a literal ball of sunshine. When the war was going on, the two of them did not make much contact, except for the multiple occasions where the curly haired demigod let it be known that he did not trust him. He could not blame Leo for not putting his faith into the son of Hades, but he still could not get the skeptical look that had come on his face whenever he would enter the room. But Nico did not care much about all of that, considering that the engineer had done a whole 180 on him for the past two days. He does not know what has gotten into Leo, it seemed like the fire wielder enjoyed spending time with Nico, but he could not just wrap his head around it. The two of them have not had that much contact with one another ever since the war ended, only being in circle to circle when their friends would lalign. And those ‘friends’ Nico was referring to were Jason and Hazel, and even sometimes Reyna, but other than that, nothing. But even then, Leo would be cordial and try to speak with him on a civil level without a hint of distaste, unlike some of the other campers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe that was why he said yes to the dance. The son of Hades felt his entire face just heat up at the thought, but Nico just shook his head and a nymph came and set down a basic breakfast in front of him. It was just eggs, bacon, and homefries, nothing out of the ordinary of an American breakfast. But even when he picked up his fork next to the plate and started to toss the potatoes from one end of the plate to the other, he could only focus on the dance from two nights ago. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The dance had been… nice. Nico was not even going to the party last night, and he had told his blonde friend that, but Jason could be persistent when he wanted to be. So in the end, Nico went, and he had gone rather late into the party as well. But when he did get there, he did not really know what to do. All he saw were people grinding against one another and he even saw a pair of Apollo and Aphrodite kids making out in a corner somewhere. There was no way in hell he was going to get in that. But that was when Valdez had spotted him with that giant ass plate of food. The son of Hephaestus looked sweaty as it was one of the hottest nights of the summer, but that did not stop him from asking a dance from the son of Hades. Nico was going to say no, he really was, but it was just that no one else had ever asked him to dance before. He does not really go to parties, or any other social events for that matter, except the ones that Reyna and Hazel invite him to. But a small ball that the Legionnaires would hold from time to time was completely different then having a beach party with horny teenagers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico did not know if he would categorize the curly haired demigod as a horny teenager, but he was a known flirt from time to time. The two of them have only spent a small amount of time together and every other sentence that would come out of Leo’s mouth would have something to do with trying to get into Nico’s pants. Yes, Nico was fully aware that Leo liked guys, it was something that he had confirmed when the two of them were in his cabin yesterday. It…  made sense if he was being honest with himself. For the past year now, he had only categorized the son of Hephaestus as a womanizer, but he did not know that he was attractive to guys as well. Leo certainly had the personality for it, and one could mistake him for a son of Aphrodite just by his looks alone. And that was not something that Nico would have said a year ago. When the war was going on and all that jazz, Leo looked average, he had to say. Nico was not shallow like Drew or some of the other Aphrodite kids that judge people on looks alone, but it was the rough truth. But now, after a year has passed, Leo’s round face has become sharper, more defined. Nico didn’t question it last night, but Leo was covered in oil and grease and it just made the curly haired demigod seem even more attra-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>NOPE. Uh-uh. He was definitely not going to go there. Leo was now a conundrum to the black haired demigod, and it was pissing him off a way that Nico had never experienced before. But why though? What made Leo so special above everyone else? Or the more important question: what clicked in the son of Hephaestus’s mind to hang out with Nico more? The two had barely spent time together, and the first time the two demigods were in the same room alone with one another was two nights ago when they had danced in the bunker, what had changed? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ugh. Nico didn’t know what to think. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“DI ANGELO!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico squealed as he jumped from his seat and turned around aimed his fork at whoever just screamed in his ear. For a few seconds, Nico di Angelo was ready to stab someone in the throat, but he immediately lowered the makeshift weapon the moment he saw who it was. Leo Valdez was now standing in front of him with his hands in the air, smiling at him with those crooked teeth of his. He was wearing his typical white collared shirt over his orange camp shirt with the suspenders, along with that magical belt of his. He no longer had any oil or grease stains on him, which means that the curly haired demigod thankfully took a shower after last night. Nico thought he saw a bathroom in Bunker 9 the last time he was there, but he was not so sure. There were bathrooms in each of the cabins, he even had one all to himself in his, but he was not so sure when it came to Leo. But he was trailing off topic, because right now, he wanted nothing more than to drop the fork on the floor and strangle the bright smile right off Leo’s tan features. Nico looked around to see if anyone had noticed his tiny outburst, but the other campers were too busy preoccupied with one another to care. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you just </span>
  <em>
    <span>squeal?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus asked, clearly making fun of him. Leo made his way over to the other side of the table and promptly sat down as if he didn’t just scare the living daylights out of the noirette. “C’mon, stop looking at me like that! I got Jason yesterday too, if it makes you feel any better.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico just shook his head and sat back down, stabbing his fork right back into his food. “No, it doesn’t make me feel any better. Can’t you just greet people like a normal person?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Pssh, like you don’t scare people when you literally birth yourself out of the shadows? I’ve heard a few stories of you making people piss themselves.” Leo remarked, with a challenging smile on his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well, he did have a point. It would be a lie if he said he did not enjoy it when he just appeared behind people from time to time and have them jump when they hear him speak. He loves doing it to Jason because the blonde hated getting jump scared, but that was a story for another time, because he was trying to stay pissed at the son of Hephaestus, not entertain him. “Whatever. At least I do it with more class.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Class? Didn’t know there was class for this kind of stuff.” Leo laughed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s a lot of things you don’t seem to know, Valdez.” Nico bit back. “And what took you so long? Breakfast is almost gonna be over.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And right on queue, a nymph appeared on Leo’s side of the table and set down a plate of food in front of him. On the plate in question was a thick slice of ham, multiple pieces of bacon, and so many sausages that Nico could not even count just how many there really were on the plate. Nico’s face scrunched in disgust, as Leo thanked the nymph and grabbed the fork and knife next to the plate. But before Leo was about to give himself a heart attack, he looked over at the center of the table and grabbed the ketchup bottle that Nico had used before and drizzled it all around and on top of all the meat before he was satisfied. As Leo began to devour the food in front of him, after a while, he seemed to realize that Nico was looking at him with a queasy look on his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a mouthful of food, Leo looked up at him. “What?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You need to do something about your eating habits. If you give yourself a heart attack, I’m not shadow traveling you to the hospital.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Awe, and are you gonna cook for me? I’m gonna get to the bunker and you’re going to be there with nothing but an apron on? Now </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>would be a dream -OW!” Leo choked on some of the food that was in his mouth, managing to swallow it down before he looked back up at the black haired demigod with a surprised look on his face. “Did you just kick me?!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes. Say shit like that again and I hope you’ll enjoy the walk from Ohio.” Nico said, as calmly as he could. He thought it was a miracle that his cheeks did not burn up at what Leo had just said, but the son of Hephaestus had just proved his point. Leo would flirt with literally anyone, and that also included Nico. The curly haired demigod had not even been sitting with him at the table for more than a few minutes and he was already acting like a fool, just why was he like this. Either way, Nico wanted to focus on why the two of them were really having breakfast with one another. “So is the boat all ready?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“To answer your question from before, that’s why I was a little late. I just finished everything and now we can take this baby to the water!” Leo said cheerfully, before he stuffed another sausage in his mouth. “We gonna shadow travel there, or walk? Do you wanna walk to save your energy for the boat?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico shrugged his shoulders. He decided that it was actually time to start eating his food instead of playing with it, and put some of the home fries in his mouth, chewing them slowly before he swallowed. “Walking’s fine. Doesn’t really matter.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo smiled at him, even though he was pretty sure he had some ham on the other side of his teeth. “Great!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo then went on to talk about just how the motorboats worked, and Nico could honestly say he was a little impressed by the son of Hephaestus. Leo had told him that they did not need to run on gas, that they were entirely electrical, so all they needed to do was charge overnight and they would be all set. The question popped into his head about just how they were going to be charged, considering that the camp did not have any charging stations whatsoever, but he would save his question for when Leo was done explaining. The son of Hades actually found it kind of funny how the curly haired demigod’s hands would wave up and around in the air as he got passionate about his creation, and the way those warm brown eyes would heat up when he got really excited. And when Nico said ‘heat up’, they did not literally set on fire, even though he speculated that they could if the brown haired demigod wanted to. There was actually a lot that Nico wanted to know about Leo’s gift, and to see just what the son of Hephaestus could really do with his power. But all this fire talk reminded him of what transpired the two nights ago, when the two of them had danced together. Leo had accidentally caught his hair on fire for whatever reason, and if it was not for Nico’s quick reaction time, he would have been burned. Thankfully he was not, because if Leo accidentally burned Nico with his fire, the black haired demigod knew the son of Hephaestus would never forgive himself. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But as Leo was smiling and chomping down the last of his food, Nico felt that someone was watching them. Considering that the mess hall was still full of campers almost finished with their lunches, it was a feeling that he should have not felt. As Leo looked down to his plate, the son of Hades took the opportunity to look around the Mess Hall for himself, to see just who it was that was staring at them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But he did not need to look for long, because his deep black eyes immediately collided with kaleidoscope ones. He found that Piper McLean was staring at the two of them- wait, no - she was staring at </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Jason was busy talking to Lacy, another daughter of Aphrodite, and as the blonde was distracted, McLean most likely noticed that he and Leo were sitting together. But it was like she had a confused look on her face, as her perfectly cut eyebrows were scrunched together in confusion and her mouth was partially opened. Nico did not know McLean all that well, as she was one of the people who distrusted him back during the war, and he knows that if it was not for her boyfriend, it did not matter to her if he ended up in Tartarus. Everytime he was with Jason, the daughter of Aphrodite would make little contact with him as possible, or just straight up ignore him. Nico did not care all that much for her either, he honestly thought she was a little more prideful then she let on, especially when it came to her looks, but that was something for another time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took McLean a few seconds to realize that Nico was staring right back at her, and her kaleidoscope eyes immediately widened for a second before she looked away back towards her boyfriend, who had finished talking to her sister just moments before. After a few seconds, McLean looked back over at their table, but Nico did not remove his gaze from her whatsoever, symbolizing that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>she was staring at the two of them. It was the look that came over the daughter of Aphrodite’s face that made Nico chuckle. If she did not look uncomfortable before, she sure as hell did now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico turned away and found that Leo had finished the heart attack that was on his plate, and wiped the grease off of his face with a napkin. After he inelegantly cleaned himself up, he looked back up towards the noirette, with that thousand watt smile back on his face. “What’s so funny?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing.” He lied. Nico put his fork on the table and stood from his seat, with the curly haired demigod doing the same. Nico glanced over his shoulder to see if McLean was still looking over at them, but she was caught up in a conversation with Jason about them to pay them any mind again. It was a little bit of a relief to Nico, but he would not let Leo know that, that’s for sure. As the two of them walked out of the Mess Hall, being the first ones to leave for afternoon activities, he then said, “I was just laughing at how much the hospital bill is gonna be after the heart attack. Hope you have good insurance.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, isn’t your dad the god of wealth or something? Want to spare your buddy a few dracma for good old time’s sake?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why don’t you ask my sister to pull some gold out of the ground for you? I’m sure she’d let you touch it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re a bastard, di Angelo.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What else is new?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-000-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the two demigods arrived in Bunker 9, Leo had to open the garage door with a padlock on the side of the door. The last time he was here with Jason he and the son of Jupiter had simply walked through the opened garage door, so Nico did not see just how one could get the door to open. Once the garage door was fully opened, Leo extended an arm forward, and it reminded him of how the son of Hephaestus had offered his hand to him when they danced the other night. But Nico knew that he was signalling the shorter demigod to go in first, so Nico did not dwell on the thought for long and stepped inside, being greeted by all of the machines and projects that he was succumbed to two a few nights ago. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The bunker was honestly amazing, but he would never tell that to the son of Hephaestus or his ego would get as the bunker itself. It was said to be built by some of the Hephaestus kids back when the Demigod Civil War was happening, and that Leo had found it while he was wandering somewhere. But even so, Leo took the opportunities that the bunker gave him and made it into something that was truly amazing. As Nico stepped deeper into the bunker and towards what he thought to be the motor boat that Leo was working on, he took note of all the other projects on some of the work benches. Most of the projects were just things that Nico thought Leo was tinkering with, like the clock the curly haired demigod had given him. There were handheld cars, some metal animal figurines, and even a giant vanity that Nico was sure was not for the son of Hephaestus. Nico eyed the vanity, and seemed to be one of the more eye soring things in the bunker, as it was a neon violet with bulbs around the frame of the giant mirror. There was no way that Leo would use this kind of thing for himself, and he knows McLean was too tomboyish for something as obnoxious as that, so who is it for? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico shook his head and tried to look back at the canoe that had a motor attached to it, but something caught his eye. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On top of one workbench, was a flower. Yeah, it sounds strange when Nico said it in his head, but that was exactly what it was. But the flower was no ordinary plant, it was actually not even a plant at all. The flower was made of completely metal, with the composition of it being completely silver, including the petals and the stem of the plant. But the stem was made out of three silver metal keys, but they looked to be old, as they were quite large and looked like they would open medieval doors at that. The petals of the flower were made out of pieces of silver flattened and shaped to mimic that of a real flower. But the details of the petals were astounding, as they were carved as if the veins of the plants could actually actually hold and do something for the plant.But even though the silver parts of the plant were incredible, there was one thing that made the piece ten times more beautiful. In the center of the petals where the stigma of the flower was supposed to be, was a circular gem, the color of garnet. Nico has no idea just where Leo would have been able to get such a beautiful gem, as the dark reds of the metal flower stuck out as the most beautiful thing in the world to him, and he turned to look at the son of Hephaestus to ask. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Nico turned around, he found that Leo was standing over by the motorized canoe, checking over the motor to most likely see if everything was all right. Nico cleared his throat to get the curly haired demigod’s attention, and when Leo looked up, a mix of surprise and regret infiltrated his warm brown eyes. The not much taller demigod clicked his tongue and made his way over to he blach haired boy, saying, “You, uh… weren’t supposed to see this.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why?” Nico asks. The flower was amazing, why would he not show it to Nico? Was it something personal that Leo did not want to share with anyone? Nico understood that artists had this weird thing where they did not want to share certain works with people because of personal reasons, so he would completely understand if Leo shared that sentiment. “Sorry, it was just sitting here-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? Oh, don’t be. It was um…” Leo looked down to the flower and picked it up. “It was supposed to be a gift.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A gift.” Nico repeats. Leo looks back down to the flower in his hands, and the noirette found himself doing the same. As Nico stared at the keys and the garnet gem, it all started coming together, “Valdez-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know what you’re gonna say, ‘You already gave me the clock, so can’t take this beautiful flower that took you almost all night to make because you had me on your mind.’ But I didn’t fully intentionally make it for you, my mind kind of just wandered and I ended up making it.” Leo said, smiling. He lifted the plant up slightly so Nico could get a better look. “Did I do a good job?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico did not know what to think. First, Valdez gave him that golden clock that he had no business in taking, and now he was making him flowers out of things that represented him. Just what had gotten into the son of Hephaestus? But Nico was not going to lie and say the flower was something it was not, so he answered truthfully. “It’s amazing.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico could have sworn Leo was a son of Apollo at how bright his teeth were shining at that moment. “I tried. Do you get it though?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. The keys represent my dad, and the garnet is my birthstone. How the hell do you even know my birthday, Valdez?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I asked Jason after the bonfire.” He said simply. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So let me get this straight: if you just ‘let your mind wander’ like you said you did, why are you asking Jason for my birthstone then?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ha, got’em! Leo’s face immediately filled with a regretful look on his face and he let out a sigh, pouting his lips. Nico would never tell the fellow demigod that the son of Hades found it slightly endearing, but Leo then went on to say. “Fine. I built it with the full intention of giving it to you. But you </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>to take it, I did all this work!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo, I already took the clock, there’s no way-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sniffle. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Valdez.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Another sniffle. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t tell me-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sob. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh my gods</span>
  <em>
    <span>, </span>
  </em>
  <span>are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>crying</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He could not believe what was happening in front of his eyes. As Leo held the artificial flower in his hands, his face had slowly scrunched up in what appeared to be pain. Nico could spot crocodile tears from a mile away, but he could tell that Leo was trying his hardest to let it all out. But after a few more seconds,  a single tear fell out of Leo’s warm brown eyes, and Nico was honestly surprised he even made it that far. “B-but, I spent all night on it! Just for y-you!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow, Oscar worthy performance right here.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo sniffled. “The Oscars have been known to have a racist history, but thank you for the sentiment.” The curly haired demigod pushed the flower in his face again. “I made it for you! I went through all the trouble to even get your birthstone! Do you know how much the Stoll’s charge for that kind of thing? I can’t g-give it to anyone else.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You could give it to someone whose birthday is in January.” Nico offered. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The brown eyed demigod shook his head. “What about the keys then? Not a lot of demigods have parents who have keys as their symbol.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, you say you have the whole camp wrapped around your finger, right? I don’t know, just say you’re giving them the key to your heart or something.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something… changed in Leo’s eyes right then. The look of sadness and despair completely vanished from the engineer’s face and was replaced with something else entirely. It was like a look of determination had morphed into Leo’s face, and Nico did not know how he felt about that. The sudden change of emotion caught Nico off guard, so he did not entirely know just what the son of Hephaestus was going to say next. It took Leo a little while longer than it should have for him to say something else, but Leo then licked his lips and simply said, “I made it for you. I don’t want to give it to anyone else.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Godsdamnit! How the hell was he supposed to say no to that?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hades shook his head. He should say no to this gift. Leo had already given him the clock, there was no way that he should take something like this. But with the way that the son of Hephaestus was looking at him so intently, so expectantly, Nico does not know if he has it in him to say no to him. Just what was going on with Leo, anyway? First, he invited him to a dance, and now he was just showering him with gifts that he knows he should not take. The golden clock was one thing, and he knows that Leo only gave it to him on a wim, but the artificial flower in Leo’s hands was something else entirely. The clock was something that Leo just made in his free time, and gave it to Nico because he could, but this? Leo said that the flower was made specifically for him, and he believed the curly haired demigod. Keys? They were clearly a symbol of his father, and it was actually very thoughtful of the fellow demigod. Not a lot of people know that keys were a symbol of his father, mostly accoating the god with money or death, even though Thanatos was the god of death but whatever. And the garnet, Leo went out of his way to get his birthstone, even though that posed many questions with just that point. What did Leo mean he had to go through the Stolls to get it? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico shook his head. He raised his pale hands to grasp at the pot of the plant, his pale fingers brushing over Leo’s tan ones. He was immediately reminded of two nights ago, when they had danced together under the orange lighting, as one of Leo’s hands had been on his waist and the other collapsed around his fingers. The fire wielder’s hands and warm, but it did not bother Nico in the slightest, he actually found it kind of comforting. And even now, when he took the flower from Leo’s hands, he felt that warmness as their fingers brushed, but Nico did not say anything. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo smiled at him as he took the flower, saying, “Thank you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re the one giving me a gift, shouldn’t I thank you?” The black haired demigod grunts. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, but I could tell that you were thinking about it.” Leo said, walking over to the motorized canoe. Nico set the plant back down on the workbench as gently as he could, trying not to damage the gift that Leo had just given him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico stepped next to the curly haired demigod. “I really do appreciate it, but tone it down with all the gifts. I really do like it, but I can’t keep taking stuff from you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re not really taking if I’m the one giving.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know what I mean, Valdez.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo chuckled. “That I do, di Angelo. Now, let’s get this show on the road! Or should I say lake?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo kept snickering to himself, obviously finding his own joke hilarious, but Nico just gave him an annoyed look before he turned his attention to the canoe in front of him. It seemed to be one of the newer canoes that the camp had, because there were some at the docks of the lake that Nico would not be found dead in. Some of them were so old and rickety that they even had holes at the bottom, which made him wonder how they even kept afloat at all. But the canoe on the workbench was big enough to hold about three people, which was a fairly good size for a boat of it’s stature. There were three seats, two at both tips, and a center seat for a third person. And the boat Leo had been working on had a new paint job that he knew the son of Hephaestus must have done himself, because no canoe in this camp was kept up. It was painted a candy apple red that was such an eyesore that Nico wanted to look away. On the side of the canoe were bold black letters that read </span>
  <em>
    <span>U.S.S. Conoa, </span>
  </em>
  <span>which Nico knew meant canoe. Spanish and Italian shared the same language branch, so there were a lot of words that were the same in both of the languages. The son of Hephaestus must have thought he was so funny, as he kept smiling over at Nico when he knew that the black haired demigod saw the name, but Nico did not say anything else. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the edge of the back of the boat was what appeared to be the motor of the canoe, which was actually a little smaller than he thought it was going to be. The motor was nothing big, just the standard one that was on most boats, but just smaller. The motor had a silver bar that extended down towards the bottom of the boat, with a fan at the very end of it. Nico guessed that the motor was going to put energy into the fan so that it could move the canoe. But the thing that truly caught his eye was the handlebar that actually extended into the boat, appearing that the back person could steer the fan so that they could determine for themselves where to go. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you think? Got any questions?” Leo asked next to him. Nico turned to look at him, and found that there was an excited look on his face. Leo always got excited when he was talking about his projects, and this was no exception. But hated to shut the curly haired demigod down like this, but they really need to get this show on the road if they wanted to make it to capture the flag after lunch on time. Or get this show on the lake. Whatever. </span>
</p>
<p><span>“Maybe when we’re out on the water.” Nico would never tell Leo that he also</span> <span>found the look of disappointment a little endearing too, but he would take that to the grave. Nico looked at the canoe in front of him. He’s carried bigger things before, so it should not be a problem taking this thing to the lake and then back. He would just need to take a tiny rest before Capture the Flag started. Nico glanced over at Leo, asking, “You ready?” </span></p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus had an apprehensive look on his face, already answering Nico’s question before he even had the chance to start speaking. “Uh, so how are we gonna do this? I mean, when we had traveled here when we did our little dance, I didn’t really feel anything, but I was dizzy. I’ve seen you do it a few times before, but I’ve never experienced something like that, ever. How does it even work? Like, where were we when we were in between the forest and the bunker? I didn’t really get a chance to look since I was holding my plate of food, but it was awesome! But wait, are you sure you’re going to be able to carry the two of us and the canoe? And wait, we haven’t even thought about if you’re able to bring the thing back to the bunker! This is only a prototype after all. I know you carried the statue across the world and shit but I know shadow travelling puts a toll on your health and I don’t want Solace down my throat- wait, that actually sounds way more dirty than intended-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just shut up, Valdez.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Nico snapped his fingers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the two demigods arrived at the lake, Nico had teleported them to be standing on the dock. Leo was standing a few feet away from him, looking like he was going to fall, and Nico took a step forward to catch him, but when Leo put his hand up to signal he was all right, he stopped. Nico took the chance to look around some more, and up into the sky. Zeus’s domain was a cloudy, sunny day, with the sky being such a rich and deep blue that for someone like Nico who usually preferred to stay in his cabin all day, he knew it was beautiful. It was cool out today, being the perfect temperature to wear just shorts and a t-shirt, but Nico would never be caught dead in something as simple as that. But even though the sky and weather was all natural, as it was all controlled by Camp Half-Blood, Nico does not really know how yet. He knows it has something to do with magic, but he was not sure where the source was coming from. He looked out into the water around them, and surprisingly found that there was no one out in the lake or using one of the canoes. He found it to be a good thing, as it gave the two of them privacy and that they would not be disturbed. And </span>
  <em>
    <span>wow. </span>
  </em>
  <span>That sounded way dirtier than he had intended it to be. He and Leo were not going to do anything except get on a canoe, see if it works, and leave it at that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Going through the nether was nothing knew, and it was easy as pie to transport the himself, the other demigod, and the motorized canoe all the way to the lake in a flash. He just could not take Leo rambling any longer, he had to get out of the bunker and get this party started as soon as he could. Nico stood straight as the world materialized around them, but Leo stumbled back just like he did when the black haired demigod shadow traveled them from the forest to the bunker so that they could dance a few nights ago. Leo had a surprised look on his face, but at the same time looked as if he had a massive headache. Sometimes when Nico shadow travels people, they always either had a massive headache, or looked like they were going to vomit. But that was only a few people. Of course, when he does his talent without telling someone and just teleports them somewhere without their consent, that always tends to resustle a few feathers. He always tries to tell people that he was going to do it, but at times it was easier to just do it and get it over with. This was one of those times, but he knew that Leo was not mad at him. After a few moments, the son of Hephaestus regained his balance and looked around him, taking in the area just like Nico did. But once Leo’s warm brown eyes met with Nico’s black ones, he smiled at the son of Hades, and Nico began to squirm again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Warn a guy next time will ya?” Leo smiled over at him. “I’m still not used to that yet.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You will after a while.” Nico said, trying to ease the curly haired demigod. “Trust me, when I started learning how to do it, I vomited like twice.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And I appreciate all of your sacrifice.” Leo laughed, as he began to look around. “Where’s the canoe?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh yeah. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took Nico only a second of looking to find where it was, and he pointed to a spot a few feet behind the son of Hephaestus. “It’s over there.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A few feet away from them was the red painted canoe, and it was flipped upside down on top of the doc. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo chuckled. “Not your best work I see.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever, Valdez.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two demigods made their way over to the motorized canoe, and picked it up at both tips, flipping it over so that the top side was now facing up. The canoe was made out of solid wood, so the son of the bitch was heavy, and neither of them were not bodybuilders by any means. This was the type of job Leo should have asked Jason to help with, but then again it was his fault. Nico does not know why the boat did not shadow travel inside of the water, maybe because he was so distracted by the son of Hephaestus and the flower he had just given him. But either way, he should have paid more attention and got the boat in the water. But at least he did not teleport the canoe facing down in the lake, that would have been an embarrassing disaster. But even if that did happen, Leo probably would have laughed it off and just taken off his shirt and swam towards the canoe so that he could flip it right side up again, and all would be fixed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Nico hated how much he liked the thought of Leo shirtless. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The noirette and the brunette both huffed as they carried the canoe to one edge of the doc, gently tossing the thing into the water, but not too far in fear that it would float away. The son of Hephaestus looked through that bottomless belt of his and pulled out a long piece of rope. Nico gave the brunette a curious glance as he walked to the tip of the boat and looped the rope on a ring at the tip of the canoe, and turned around. Leo then tied the other end of the rope around one of the wooden poles on the dock so that the canoe could stay permanently parked for the time being. Leo smiled over at the son of Hades before he turned back towards the canoe and leaned on the wooden pole for support as he stepped down into the canoe. Nico thought he was going to bust his ass just by the way the burly haired demigod kept wobbling, but he decided that he would save Leo some pride and just wait until he was fully in the canoe. When the son of Hephaestus finally made his way inside, he turned around and gave the son of Hades the same smile from before, but this time he was extending his hand out towards Nico. IT honestly reminded the dark haired demigod of when before the two of them had begun to dance, and Leo had put one hand behind his back and the other being offered to Nico. It made the son of Hephaestus’s face heat up just by thinking about it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm, I feel like we’ve been here before?” Leo snarks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Nico hated the fact that the two of them were thinking about the same thing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico stared at the hand for a few seconds, with the curly haired demigod giving him an expected look. He thought about doing the same thing that Leo had done just moments before and landed on the wooden pole for support, but he knows that it would just be easier to take Leo’s hand. Nico shook his head and raised his pale hand, grasping at Leo’s glowing tan palm. Leo’s hand was warm, but so was it when he had held onto it when they had danced, so it was nothing different. Everything about Leo was warm, and Nico was still trying to figure out if he liked it or not. Either way, Nico was a little nervous as his right high top hit the bottom of the canoe, in which the boat began to shake slightly. With his other hand, Leo grabbed Nico’s waist, with his arm wrapping around the fellow demigod’s abdomen. Nico’s black eyes immediately shot towards the engineer, giving him a shocked look, not exactly sure why the hell Leo did it in the first place. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re not gonna fall.” Leo reassures him, with a small smile on his face. Nico then noted that Leo did smile a lot, didn’t he? “Trust me.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Why the hell did Nico feel he’s seen this in a movie somewhere? Nevertheless, Nico’s other foot hit the bottom of the canoe, and now the two of them were fully on the water, waiting for the son of Hephaestus to get the motor going. But for a little while longer, Leo kept his arm around the son of Hades’s waist, pressing both of their sides together. Remember when Nico said that everything about the engineer was warm? This was one of those moments, as the side of Leo’s body was so warm, so… cozy. Ugh, the thought just made the black haired demigod want to puke out the little breakfast he had this morning. Why the hell did Valdz have to be so godsdamn comfortable, who made him like this? Obviously his father. Nico looked up at the son of Hephaestus, and found himself looking into deep brown eyes of his. Leo had an unsure look on his face, and it was an expression he had only seen on his face a few times before, but not very often. Leo had always radiated confidence in everything he does: especially when it comes to his work or social situations. Leo was the type of guy that could literally talk to a wall and make the wall laugh, it sounds crazy, but that was just the kind of guy the curly haired demigod was. And his work, his machines, his projects. They were nothing but amazing, and even though Nico has only known the son of Hephaestus personally for a period of literally two days, there has never once been a moment where he was not impressed by Leo’s works. But to make a long story short, because of the engineer’s amazing works, that made </span>
  <em>
    <span>Leo </span>
  </em>
  <span>amazing, and it pissed Nico off to no end. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo looked like he was going to say something, but Nico just cleared his throat and reached for the arm that was wrapped around his waist. Nico grasped at Leo’s wrist and unwrapped his arm so that he would be free of the demigod’s embrace. Nico already knew that his ears were as red as the brightly painted canoe, so he turned to sit down in the middle seat of the canoe. The canoe shook a bit as he made the movement to sit down, but he knew he would be fine. Nico looked up to see that Leo was still staring at him, the unsure look in his eyes was still there, but the corner of his lips were slowly turning upwards, and Nico did not know if that was a good or bad thing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus turned so his back was facing the black haired demigod, and Leo took a long look at the motor in front of him. Well, Nico guessed now was the moment of truth. It would be kind of embarrassing for the curly haired demigod to have Nico do all of this work for him and not have the motor work like it was supposed to. But he was sure that Leo probably tested it back at the bunker before he even would think to bring it out here. And Nico would not judge if the motor didn’t work, he would just tell him that he should try again and have better luck next time. Either way, Leo leaned down and pressed a few buttons on the motor, and when the piece of machinery buzzed to life, it barely made a sound. Nico has been on a few boats to know that the motors were as loud as a banshee, so he was honestly surprised when all the motor did was make a small buzzing noise.Leo then put both fists to his waist and let out a light sigh of what seemed to be happiness and turned back around to look at the son of Hades. Nico smiled as he looked up into Leo’s dark brown eyes, happy for the son of Hephaestus that the machine actually worked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All right, wanna take this baby for a spin?” Leo leaned a little over the water, and unlooped the rope that was wrapped around the wooden pole that was keeping it from drifting away from the dock. Once Leo got the rope completely back in the canoe, he put it under his feet. The curly haired demigod then sat back down in his seat in front of the motor, his hand grasping on the steering pole that extended next to him. He then asked Nico, “You ready?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hell no he wasn’t. “Uh, so just how does this thing work?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As he held onto what appeared to be the ignition, Leo nudged his head down towards it. “This sort of works like a motorcycle, so the more I press on the clamp it goes faster it goes. The thing runs on electricity and something else that I’m not allowed to disclose by my lawyers, so there’s that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico rolled his eyes. “Okay, so the clamp determines how fast we go like a motorcycle, and I’m guessing that same bar steers it too?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bingo, Skullboy!” Leo says happily. The brunette then began to swing the bar left and right, showing that it was actually steerable. “If I turn the bar right, it goes right. If it turns left, it goes left. I tried to keep everything simple if normal campers were going to be using these things. But this is just a prototype, so let’s just see how this goes.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Leo was about to grasp on the ignition clamp, Nico then said, “Wait, how fast does this thing go…?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And at the moment when Leo smiled at him, that’s when he knew he was fucked. “Typically, these things go at five miles an hour, but me being me, I boosted that number up to twenty-five. Enjoy the ride~!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Valdez, don’t yOU DARE-!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Leo did. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus laughed maniacally as his hand clamped on the ignition, sending the two demigods out into the water. Nico had immediately shot forward, with his head colliding straight into Leo’s surprisingly firm chest, feeling that same warmth he had encountered just moments before. Nico hated the fact that he actually found the heat a bit comfreating, and at the same time, he wanted nothing more than to pitch the curly haired demigod in the face for going full throttle in a matter of seconds.The son of Hades immediately felt his face heat up because of the warmness, and he looked up at the curly haired demigod who seemed to be having the time of his life. Leo just laughed as Nico’s head collided in his chest and he peered down to the black haired demigod with a goofy grin on his face. The two of them were going so fast that most of Leo’s curls were pushing to the back of his head, showing off most of his forehead. Most of the time, he and Leo shared the sentiment of having their hair over their forehead. While Leo’s brown curls fell over one side of his face, Nico’s straight black hair tended to cover his right eye most of the time. And with the way his head was positioned, the wind was pushing Nico’s bangs to the front of his face, hiding his eyes from seeing almost anything. But even though his thick straight locks were blocking his view, he still saw the look of glee in Leo’s warm brown eyes, and the son of Hephaestus even had the gall to wink at him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico turned around so that the back of his head was against Leo’s abdomen, and he sat his bottom in between Leo’s feet. The boat was going too fast for Nico to go back to sitting on the middle bench, so he would just deal with this for now. He put two hands on the edges of the canoe so he could get a better grasp on </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>so that he would not fall into the water. He knew that Leo would never purposefully let Nico fall into the lake, but the guy could be a dumbass sometimes, so there were no promises.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Since Nico was facing forward again, his hair and bangs were pushing to the back of his head again, similar to what Leo’s was doing right now at the moment, so he could see things more clearer than before. The engine of the motor… canoe? Is that what Leo was going to call this thing, a ‘motor canoe?’ Either way. The engine on the motor was not loud even when the two of them were going twenty miles above the limit. Nico was still impressed with the fact that it made almost little to no noise, and even more that Leo had such easy control with it. The son of Hephaestus did a few loops around the lake, which did take a while considering that the lake was kind of huge, but Nico actually found that he was enjoying himself. The son of Hades did not usually get in cars or planes or anything like that because of the ability to shadow travel, and he does not even remember the last time he was on a boat other than the Argo II. He was not an aquaphobe like his sister, who could not even be on a boat for two seconds before she started to vomit her brains out, but he still found all of this kind of nice. And he felt a warmness, but not coming from the son of Hephaestus from behind him, but from somewhere else. It was the same kind of warmness that reminded him of when he and Leo had danced a few nights ago, and he was so curious as to where it was coming from. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Leo did one more lap around the lake, Nico spotted a few campers at the edge of the doc. They two of them were too far away for the noirette to be able to see them clearly, but he still felt something churn in his stomach as he saw them step closer to the end of the dock, clearly looking at the canoe with a motor attached to the end of it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico then sat straighter and patted Leo’s knee that was right next to him, causing the engineer to look down at him. Leo was still smiling at him, but he did have a curious look in his eyes. Nico then yelled out, “You done?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re such a buzzkill, Skullboy!” Leo laughed. The son of Hephaestus then looked up and lightly released his grasp on the clamp, with the motor boat slowing down to a steadier pace. Leo turned the steering rod towards the center of the lake, not taking them back to the dock, but Nico was fine with that as long as the canoe was still for a few moments so he could catch his breath. “Fine. But I like having you pressed up against me. It cools me down. OW!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That had earned the son of Hephaestus an elbow to the leg. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the two demigods were at the center of the lake, Leo had taken his hand completely off the ignition and stared down at the son of Hades. The blakc haired demigod felt his ears heat up again at the warm look in Leo’s eyes, and pushed himself a little up so that he could sit in the center bench of the canoe. The boat shook a bit as he made the movement, but thankfully Leo kept leaning on it when the canoe leaned on one side, evening it out. As Nico sat on the bench, he took a moment to look back at the dock to see if the campers that had been eyeing them were still there, and he found that they were now on a canoe, getting in the water. They were probably surprised with the fact that one of the boats actually had a motor attached to it, And Nico would have been too if he had not been informed of it previously. The water at the center of the lake was calm, and the wind was only a soft breeze that cooled their faces off of the summer heat. Neither of them spoke for a few moments, both probably trying to just feel the area that was around them. The only thing that could be heard was the soft moment of the water beneath them, and the soft sounds of the campers not only on the water, but back on shore as well. And Nico was taking his time just enjoying the atmosphere, until he realized he was still pissed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico’s black eyes immediately found themselves removing their gaze from the sky above them to the son of Hephaestus. It surprised Nico that Leo straight at him with a soft look on his face, and even a small smile on his lips. Nico feels like he’s said this before, but Leo was just so… ugh. A year ago, his face was way more rounder, and he was a little more scrawnier. Now, Nico knew that he was not the guy that could say anything considering that a year ago he was considered to be a toothpick, and even now he was on the skinnier side. But so was Leo. The son of Hephaestus was not a bulky guy in any means, he was in fact more on the skinny side like Nico, but he was still someone pleasing to look at.Over the past year, Leo has just gotten much more alluring, and even though his face has gotten sharper, more defined, he still looks like the same old Leo that he has known since the war. It made no sense, Nico knows, but there was just something about Leo now that changed. The engineer was not a child of Aphrodite, but why the hell did he find the curly haired demigod so attractive? There were plenty of hot demigods that were not children of Aphrodite, he could name a few right off the top of his head, and Leo was now becoming one of them. Nico would never say this out loud, but Leo was actually kind of…handsome. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Nico stared into those fiery brown eyes of his, a question popped into his head: If Hephaestus was supposed to be the ugliest Olympian, how in Hades did he make someone like Leo? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus’s hands immediately shot in front of his face, that warmness in his brown eyes still being there, but were now on the defensive. Nico felt his eyebrows scrunch at the sudden movement, with his voice finally breaking the silence, asking, “What?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You just looked like you were going to punch me in the face or something. That would be a third time you’ve assaulted me, di Angelo. I really don’t want to call my lawyers on you, man, I kind of like you.” Leo said, with a small smile creeping on his face. “But what is it? I thought the moment was nice. Being out here, the sun is shining, the breeze of the water hitting our faces… ” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico rolled his eyes at Leo’s dramaticness. “It is nice. I was just thinking about something.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mind sharing?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Rather not.” Nico echoed the words that Leo had once said to him yesterday in his cabin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The curly haired demigod then nodded his head, most likely knowing that his words were being thrown back at him. A disappointed look blossomed on that godsdamn handsome face of his, but all he said to Nico was, “Touché.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After a while the two of them didn’t say anything else, until Leo asked, “Hey, Nico?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, Leo?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you want to sit at the bonfire yesterday?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo looked like he was pained to ask the question, but he does not hold it against the engineer for asking it. It was a valid question, and Nico himself even said that the two of them could sit at the bonfire and not on the porch like some weirdos. But lo and behold, they ended sitting on the porch of his cabin anyway, much to his dismay. But when Leo asked him to come with him, he of course had his reservations about the whole thing. Nico tried his best to avoid social interaction with the other campers as possible, and only when he was truly needed for something. Of course, that went against the whole point of having a summer camp, it was made for one to make friends and have adventures, but this was no ordinary camp, and he was no ordinary camper. He was a son of Hades, the kid who can talk to ghosts and make skeletons come out of the ground. To some people, that would seem totally cool, but to others, especially most people in the Greek and Roman world, he was considered to be an outcast. It was better for Hazel, as he thinks that she got most of their father’s ‘good traits’, like having power over the earth and jewels. But even she gets treated a little discriminately considering that she was still a daughter of Pluto/Hades. And maybe that was a big reason he left the bonfire. He was there for a few minutes, he even saw Leo sitting next to Jason and McLean, but once he saw all those other campers, he hightailed it out of there. But what he did not expect was to have the son of Hephaestus chase after him the way he did, sweet talking him into the weird porch thing. But either way, he was glad Leo did. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sure you can tell I don’t really like social situations. I know you know what people say about me around camp, I’m the weird son of Hades kid. I raise skeletons out of the ground, I can talk to dead people. I’m not like some of these kids of Apollo that can literally light up a room.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I get that, but you’re still you. And who cares if you can do all that stuff, that makes you so cool. Some of these Aphrodite kids can talk all the shit they want, but take them out of this camp and they can’t even pick up a knife. You can make skeleton armies out of the ground, that’s badass!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Perhaps to some. But to everyone else, I’m just a son of Hades.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo shook his head, looking out into the water. “I’ve always found it a little strange.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How our world is run. Like, we talk about how children of the Big Three are so important and all that crap, and how Percy and Jason were meant to be these epic leaders. But the only reason Jason was able to become a praetor was because of his dad. Okay, maybe not the </span>
  <em>
    <span>only </span>
  </em>
  <span>reason, as the guy is an awesome leader, but what about a Hebe kid who could be just as good as Jason, but could ever get the chance because of his heritage? You kind of get what I’m saying?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What you’re literally describing is nepotism.” Nico said. “I know you’re not shit talking Jason, you’re just using him as an example. There are plenty of good leaders out in both camps, but they’ll never get a chance to shine because being a child of the Big Three or an ultimate god or something puts them in the front of the line. Look at the Seven for example. Not to put you all down or anything, but all of your parents were Olympians, except my sister who was still a daughter of the Big Three.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly! It’s like, you and Jason get a whole cabin to yourselves while some other cabins can barely hold enough campers. I know Jason hates it, but he sure as hell doesn’t complain when he lets Piper sleep in there some nights alone together. Do I sound like an asshole?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No. You actually make sense. We do ‘elect’ our leaders like they do in the mortal world, but either way, the Greek and Roman worlds are run by kings and queens, so of course they’re going to give the roll of a leader to a child of a powerful deity just to make the gods happy. Frank, for example. He totally deserves the role as praetor for everything he did during the war, but it would be a lie to say that him being a son of Mars did not play into him getting the part.” Nico says. “And even though I do a lot for my dad, I still feel kind of bad for the Hermes cabin for example. Some kids even have to sleep in the same bed because there are not that many beds to spare. And yet there are only two beds in my cabin, and one of them is almost always empty.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I get what you mean. I always tell my siblings that Bunker 9 isn’t mine. It’s all of ours to share. And I’m happy to see when they actually use the space to make things, it’s honestly extraordinary.” Leo says, looking behind him at the motor. “Nepotism. That was the word I was looking for.” Leo sighed, looking a bit tired. “Our world sucks.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t we know it.” Nico says, looking past the son of Hephaestus and at the motor behind him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s just the stereotyping when it comes to our parents that pisses me off. It’s like we’re always supposed to follow their lead no matter what we do. One of my siblings for example. My sister Carla wants to be an actress, but she’s one of the best engineers in my cabin. But she’s such a good actress even Dionysus has said that she could go far if she kept on trying. But her ability to act is always out shined by her engineering skills. No one cares that she’s a good performer, only that she can fix things.” Leo said, looking out into the water. “I’m a good mechanic, and I know that. And I love it. But some demigods don’t want to do the things that foreshadow our parents. THey want to do their own thing.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I get it.” Nico says, honestly. Leo looked back at the black haired demigod in suripse, and Nico did not know why. Everything that Leo was saying was true, and Nico was the one who should be surprised, considering that he did not think the son of Hephaestus even thought about these kinds of things. “Jason should be a good leader because of his dad. Reyna should be a good warrior because of her mom. And you should be a good engineer because of your dad.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But that’s what we are though.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But are those things that they want to be, or things that our society </span>
  <em>
    <span>tells </span>
  </em>
  <span>you guys to be?” When Leo scrunched his eyebrows, Nico kept going. “Hear me out. I’m sure you’ve heard time and time again from Jason that he needs to be a good leader for everyone in both camps. But why though? The obvious reason is because he’s a son of Jupiter, the king of the gods, a prince, if you will. And that stresses him the hell out. And Reyna, she has to be a good warrior because her mom is a literal war goddess, so she has to work ten times harder than a child of Venus because all they have to do is look pretty and everyone loves them.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But Piper doesn’t fall into that category though, she hates being called pretty and all that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo, I’m going to be honest with you: McLean doesn’t like me.” Leo was going to open his mouth in protest, but he cut him off before he could keep saying anything. “Be honest with yourself, Leo. The two of us can barely hold a conversation together without one of us backing out. She doesn’t like me because I’m the creepy son of Hades, I don’t know if the two of you have ever spoken about me together, but I’m sure that’s what she thinks.” When Leo did not say anything, he kept on talking. “And since we’re talking about McLean, she’s a perfect example of what you were talking about before. Since she’s so trivial about not wanting to seem girly, and ‘be one of the guys,’ she has to work hard to be just as good of a leader as Jason. People won’t take her seriously because she’s a daughter of Aphrodite, and all she’s allowed to do is sit there and look pretty.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But you’re contradicting yourself.” Leo said. “You just said that Reyana has to work hard because her mom is Bellona, a war goddess, so that’s expected out of her. But then there’s Piper, who also has to work hard because her mom is Aphrodite and not a lot of people take her leadership seriously because of it…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It goes both ways.” Nico says, nodding his head. “It’s unexpected, and unexpected. Should we do what’s expected of us, to be a good warrior, be a good leader, be a good </span>
  <em>
    <span>engineer.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He said the last word with emphasis, looking over towards the son of Hephaestus. “Or do what’s unexpected: be an actress instead of a mechanic, a leader instead of a pretty face. To do what we really want to do, instead of just being a shadow of our parents.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This conversation… got way more deeper then he honestly expected it to be. If one would have told him that he was going to be in the middle of the lake on a canoe with Leo Valdez talking about philosophies, he probably would have believed them. Things were so crazy in a demigod’s life that they should not discount things that sound completely insane. But he would have never thought that Leo would be the type of guy to think about these types of things. Leo seemed to be the kind of person to act or build on impulse, not really thinking about the ramifications of the things he was doing. Of course, Leo always looked to the future, as the young boy would be considered a futurist with all of the inventions that helped the camp day by day, so he always considered the safety of his machines more than anything. But to talk about these social queues and hierarchies, they seemed so out of character for the curly haired demigod. He would think that Leo would only focus on things that were happening around him and not on the bigger picture. But even so, it really made Nico find Leo to be even more alluring, especially knowing that there was something deeper instead of just bolts and wrenches inside of that curly head of his. There was actually something that reacted to the social mistreatments that some of them as demigods had to go through in Leo’s brain, and that made Nico excited. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hades then leaned back on his arms, looking towards the son of Hephaestus. Leo still had a contemplative look in his war brown eyes, Nico just hoped that he was able to provide the answer that he was looking for. Leo looked up at Nico, changing the subject back on the motor, even though he still looked like he wanted to have a conversation before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo turned back around. “I feel the whole nepotism thing got us off topic. Look, I know that some people in camp think you’re weird-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Some?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, a little bit more than normal, whatever. But Nico, you’re one of the coolest guys I know. And that’s saying something since we’ve only really been getting to know one another for the past few days. And who gives a crap what these other campers think? Like I said before, all they really can do is talk shit and not say it to your face.” Leo tried to reason with him. Why the hell was the son of Hephaestus going with this? Was he trying to convince Nico of something he did not get? “Hey, remember when I said yesterday that if someone were to do something weird while we sat at the bonfire I would catch them on fire? Well, I’m not extending that to most parts of your daily life. The next time I catch someone talking smack, their asses are going to be barbeque, baby.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico actually chuckled at that. “I don’t want you getting in trouble because of me, but I appreciate the sentiment.  And we wouldn’t want to get your lawyers involved.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course not.” Leo winked at the son of Hades, and Nico felt his insides warm, and it pissed him off. “And… Piper doesn’t really talk about you. So I don’t really know if she thinks you're strange or not. But I’m sure she’d give you a chance once you two get to know each other!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe.” Is all the son of Hades gives him. Nico does not know if he will ever be sunshines and rainbows with the daughter of Aphrodite, and he does not really have the motivation to try. If MclEan does not want to form any kind of friendship with him, then why should he? The two of them only hand around the same social circle, that was it, the only thing that had connected them outside of the war was Jason, and apparently now Leo, but that really did not concern Nico whatsoever. He did not want to be friends with McLean, he was fine with the people he was close with now, he did not need anybody else. “What happens, happens Leo. I’m glad that the two of you are best friends or whatever, but that doesn’t mean me and her have to be.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo looked like he wanted to say something else, but he nodded his head. “All right, that’s fair.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m glad we can agree.” Nico says, with a little more sass than necessary. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All right, all right. Didn’t need the sarcasm.” The curly haired demigod chuckled at that. Leo then looked around, “Okay, I’d rate this baby a success.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are these ‘disabled’ campers going to be doing donuts around the lake with how fast this thing can go? How the hell is this safe?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo chuckled. “Who doesn’t want to have some fun every now and then?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine, fine, stop looking at me like that.” The son of Hephaestus smiled over at him, even though the son of Hades was throwing daggers his way. “I’ll do something about it. Maybe put an extra gear instead of making it so easy to go full throttle by just a clamp.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please do. Are you ready to head back?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, let me just…” Leo looked around for a few seconds, most likely looking for the thing that they needed to be teleported back to the bunker, and seemed to have found just what he was looking for. “There.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus pointed to a spot off the shore, that had a few trees that had some shade underneath it. Nico actually did think about how easy it was for them to shadow travel the boat into the dock, but not be able to go back to the bunker as there would be no shadows to travel through as they were in the middle of the lake. Leo turned around and grabbed the steering rod, gently pressing down on the clamp and steered so that the two of them could make it over there at a more gentle pace. He was glad that Leo did not go full throttle like he had done before, because if he had, he most likely would have thrown the curly haired demigod into Tartarus. When the two young men made it over to the shore of the shaded trees, Leo did his best to gently put the boat onto the dirt, trying to find a spot where they could get out of the canoe and not their shoes wet. When the canoe came to stop though, Leo was the first one out of the boat and onto dry land. Just like he had done before when they were getting onto the boat and when they had danced a few nights ago, Leo turned back around and offered his hand to the son of Hades. The curly haired demigod gave Nico a knowing smile, and the black eyed boy rolled his eyes and took the hand anyway, being reminded at how warm of a grasp that Leo had. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two demigods pulled the boat onto the shore, and Nico directed Leo to pull it into a spot that had more shade than anything. The spot that Leo had taken them to off the lake was actually quite lovely. It was on the far side of the lake, a place that not many people came to, or would even see. The lake of Camp Half Blood was actually quite large, so it was easy not to spot a few campers from across the way. The area had quite a few trees that blocked the glaring sun’s rays from hitting their skin, and had enough leaves and rocks to be shielded from anybody trying to look in. There was even a small flower patch of daffodils a few yards inland towards the small batch of trees. Hmm. Maybe Nico would come here every now and then when he wanted to leave his cabin. A big part of why he does not like to hang around the other campers was that there just so many of them. It would be a lie if he said he did not get a little anxiety when he hung around people he did not know. But he did not always want to be in his cabin all day, he did want to go outside from time to time, it was just the other campers that dampened his mood. Perhaps he’ll come here when he wants to get some fresh air, maybe he would ask Leo to come with him here again… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the two demigods were able to push the boat into the space of shade, Leo looked towards Nico with an expectant smile. Nico knew that that smile was going to be the death of him, but he could help himself when he started to smirk as well, not knowing why. But Nico did find it a little humoress when Leo closed his eyes with a smile on his face, looking ready in anticipation for the teleportation that was about to take place. Nico did not have to snap his finger when he shadow travels, but he did it to let the people who were coming with him be aware that he was doing it. And now that Leo closed his eyes, he found the gesture even more needed. But he also did it just to give him something to focus on when he lured the shadows in, so it did also help him to some extent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So Nico snapped his fingers, with the shadows reeling them in. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once the two demigods arrived back at Bunker 9, Nico had teleported them right in the center of the bunker. The noirette and brunette seemed to come back here just fine, but the motorized canoe seemed to have the same reaction that it did back at the dock. The boat returned to the bunker upside down, with the dirty and wet bottom of the canoe being displayed for all to see. Nico felt a little bad that Leo’s bunker was getting a bit dirty, but this place was a workshop after all, so they were used to having things get a bit messy. He wished he had the ability to put objects in a particular place, not just in the general area of where he wanted to go, but he would just deal with what he had for now. He just needed to practice some more, and hopefully it did not involve vomiting again, he was way passed that stage in shadow traveling at this point. Hopefully. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus still had his eyes closed, although this time he did look a little pale. Nico then asked, “You good, man?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep, just give me a minute. I think I’m getting used to it though.” Leo says, trying to smile but it comes out more of a grimace. When the son of Hephaestus opened his eyes, he looked to have a tired expression in them, but he looked all right nonetheless. “Or at least trying to get used to it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico gave out a little chuckle, finding the son of Hephaestus’s pain a bit funny. “I’m sure you will. Are you coming to Capture the Flag?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once Leo seemed to be one hundred percent there, he looked towards the son of Hades and shook his head. “Nah. Maybe next Friday though. I want to have that motor ready for Chiron by tomorrow morning.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I feel like this is the part where I tell you you work too much and need a break.” Nico says, smiling. “But I feel like you’ve already made up your mind.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you need help putting the canoe back on the bench?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo shook his head, walking over toward the stereo system that the two of them had danced to a few nights ago. Nico found the piece of machinery impressive, just like he did with all of Leo’s creations. The son of Hephaestus kneeled down towards the tape basket that he had, and shifted through it as he said, “One of my siblings are gonna come and work on one of their projects, she could help me then.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico nodded his head and turned back to one of the workbenches. He stepped up to it, and picked up the artificial flower that Leo had made for him and gently grasped at it with both hands. He then turned back to the curly haired demigod, saying, “Well, I better go. The game’s gonna start soon.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo turned back to look at the son of Hades, and he smiled when he saw Nico with the flower in his hands. He winked to him as he said, “I’ll be cheering you on.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Valdez.” And Nico snapped his fingers again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Nico got back to his cabin, he shadow traveled himself right next to his bed. As he stood, his eyes never left the artificial flower that Leo had built specifically for him. The flower was just so beautiful, and he would have never thought in a million years that someone would make him something so extraordinary. Everything about Leo was extraordinary. How many times did he have to admit that to himself? Leo could literally have built anything he wanted, but he took the time to build something like this. Nico’s eyes trailed towards his night stand, looking down at the golden clock that rested there. But the flower was just so different then the golden clock. Even though the clock was beautiful, and Nico did not most definitely deserve to hold something so valuable, the flower radiated a different energy. Leo had built the metal flower just for him, no one in camp could ever have it because it did not belong to them. Nico knows that Leo helps fixes and makes things for the other campers, but he only did it typically because to help them out. Like fix a machine, or build something to help make their lives easier. But this artificial flower had no purpose. It was something that was made specifically to be a gift, something just to simply look at and adore. And Nico really did. He could stare at the thing all day, especially the beautiful garnet gem at the center of the silver encrusted petals that shined ever so brightly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hades placed the metal flower next to the golden clock, and laid himself on his bed. He had about an hour until Capture the Flag started so he decided that a nap would suffice. As he rested his head on his black pillow, he turned himself to look at the two objects on his night stand. And he could not help but smile to himself. The two objects looked horrible next to one another, as the clock was so bright and blinding, and the flower was so dark and alluring. They were both very beautiful pieces of decorations, but they had no business being next to one another. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Leo gave them both to him, so that was all that really mattered. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>HAHHHAHAHAHAHAAAA maybe Nico has a crush who the fuck knows?????? but omg thank you for all the kudos and comments. The love keeps me really motivated &lt;3&lt;3&lt;3&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Meeting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i wanted to get this out as soon as possible, so if there are mistakes IDGAF</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Chapter 4: The Meeting</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Leo:</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had taken Leo only about twenty minutes to redesign and implement the new features to the motor device, but every time he looked at the device something inside of him told him something was wrong. He could not put his finger on it, so in the end, he just scrapped the whole motor and started from scratch again, building a brand new one and attached it to the canoe. Some of his siblings would have called him a knit picker with his obsession for his machines to be perfect, but could anyone really blame him? He tried to tell them the importance of making creations that were safe for everyone, so they had to be perfect. Yes, he knows that it does seem crazy for him to build a completely new motor out of the blue and spend an entire night on it, but he does not care. And yeah, he was fully aware of the fact that he could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he thinks it would be worth it in the end if he was careful enough. But he would kind of be contradicting himself since he upped the motor to go to twenty five mile per hour akin to the usual five, but that was just how Leo was. He liked adding crazy things to what seemed to be ordinary devices, that was kind of his brand. Drew’s Vanity for example: he had added a fan on the corner of the vanity so that when she was done putting on her makeup, she could quickly dry her face. So making a motor go faster than what it really should intend to be was nothing known to Leo. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s been about a week since Nico had helped Leo take the boat out onto the lake. It was Thursday now, which meant that Capture the Flag was happening again tomorrow, and Leo would actually take the time to participate in it this time. He was not like some of his other siblings or campers who loved the game and played it every Friday, he had things to do. But some weeks he did play, and he would admit that the game was easily the funnest activity in camp. Leo was the captain for one of the teams once, and of course he led everyone to victory. His plan was to quickly build some traps to set up when the game started, but he could only do it when the horn sounded off, as it was cheating to put traps before the game starts. He had quickly built them with some of his other siblings, and he had some of the Hermes kids run around their side of the forest and put them there. Jason was the leader of the other team, and let’s just say he did not have the best of times. It was actually kind of funny, the victory had led Chiron to almost add a rule to where traps were banned from the game, but that was when Leo pulled out the puppy dog eyes and told him that if the centaur did that, then he would be denying Leo of his heritage. And when Leo gave the puppy dog eyes, it was over for everyone, even an immortal like Chiron. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And speaking of the immortal, he had never gotten to show Chiron the prototype for the motonoe. Yes, that was what he was calling it. He pronounces it as if motor and canoe was mashed into one word: motor + canoe=motonoe. Yeah, he knows that putting a motor to a canoe is nothing innovative, he has seen it a few times before when he searched it up on the internet, but they called the motors ‘trolling motors.’ That’s so freaking boring, it just made sense to call it a motonoe because that’s exactly what it was, a canoe with a motor attached to it.  It was just common sense.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But going back on the topic of Chiron, he had gotten up early in the morning on Saturday, as he knows that the centaur was busy running the camp. Somedays, it was hard to actually have a conversation with their camp director because he was busy dealing with multiple campers at once throughout the day. And he could not go to Mr. D for help for </span>
  <em>
    <span>obvious </span>
  </em>
  <span>reasons, as the man was either too miserable and sleep deprived for someone who sleeps almost all the time. That was one thing that Leo never understood, when Mr. D was not at the Mess Hall or at the few activities he was scheduled to supervise, the man was always in the Big House sleeping, just how the hell was he tired all the time? But when he had gotten there, he had to be informed by Will that the centaur had gone off to Olympus to deal with something. The son of Apollo had looked awfully worried about it too, and at first, Leo did not think anything about it. Will was the kind of guy that worried about everything, it came with the job of being a healer. Sometimes it was endearing, other times it was just plain annoying, but Leo just accepted that it was part of Will’s personality, so he just let it slide from time to time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yet when Leo found out that Chiron had left in what seemed to be in a hurry, that’s when the red flags came up. The centaur did not tell any of them that he was going, he just left late in the night when they were all sleeping. Will needed Chiron to check off some medical supplies that needed to be ordered, and when the centaur was nowhere to be found, he went to Mr. D. The god of wine was obviously pissed at being woken up, and had rudely told the son of Apollo that Chiron had gone to Olympus for an impromptu meeting. Now, this could mean a couple of things. Either this meeting had nothing to do with demigods and the camp in general, and it could just mean that it was a personal thing with Chiron. Some of them forgot that their camp director was actually an immortal being, and even though he seemed to be a paragon for peace and prosperity, the guy still had enemies outside of the camp. But Leo had a feeling that was his wishful thinking taking the better of him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Or </span>
  </em>
  <span>the meeting could be about some of them going on a dangerous quest to either A) stop a god or deity from taking over or destroying the entire world, or B) retrieve some stupid artifact that one of the Olympians lost because of their carelessness. Leo just prayed it was not the latter, for all their sakes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo was in Bunker 9, as usual, but instead of working on his typical projects and what not, he was laying down on the carpet in front of the stereo, looking up at the bunker’s high ceiling. There were a few chairs and bean bags a few feet away from him, but he found that the carpet was much more comfortable. It was not like the bean bags and chairs were uncomfortable</span>
  <em>
    <span>, </span>
  </em>
  <span>it was just that he was in more of a mood to lay down on the floor and simply think. If any of his siblings or friends came in here and caught him staring at the ceiling, they might call him crazy, but he was really not the kind of guy to stare. He had turned the emergency lights of the bunker on, so there was a nice warm glow that went all throughout the large room. It was not the first time Leo had done this, as he usually changed the lighting when no one else was around, it was something that he would do for himself. It was pretty impractical too, since if one was going to be constructing and building machines, they would need good lighting more than anything else. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But now, the lighting reminded Leo of the time he and Nico had danced that one night. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been about a week since Nico helped him with the canoe, and Leo had barely seen the mysterious son of Hades. But it was honestly more Leo’s fault then anything else, as he had just been so busy over the past couple of days. First, he had to get that vanity out of the bunker, as even though the bunker was big enough to hold it, he did not want Drew to think she could just pick it up whenever she wanted. So, he had told her to again, mindrape some kids into helping her, and lo and behold, she came into the bunker a day later with some obviously charm spoken two sons of Aries. It was a good thing that Drew loved the vanity, as he really did not want to go through another round of designs and such when he could be working on other things. Another project that took him a couple of days to do was that Will had asked him to fix some of the equipment in the infirmary, and Leo had told him no amount of work would be able to fix some of that stuff. Will had been telling Chiron for years that they needed new equipment, but the centaur always told him they did not have enough in their budget. Leo thinks at the next meeting he should bring up the fact that so much money goes into combat and weaponry equipment that they barely have enough money for anything else. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Leo clicked his teeth. And all of that meant that he did not get to spend enough time with his crush. And yes, Leo could still not get over the fact that Nico di Angelo was his crush. And he was not saying that there was anything wrong with Nico, the son of Hades was perfect in Leo’s eyes. Except when the noirette forgets to eat his breakfast, lunch and dinner from time to time, that pisses the hell out of Leo. But other than that, Leo liked everything about the black eyed demigod. His attitude, his dry humor. And hey, he even laughs at Leo’s jokes from time to time, what more could Leo ask for? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nothing really. Leo honestly did not expect Nico to be as forceful as he was to help him out with bringing the canoe to the lake. Leo would have just asked some Ares kids, or even some of his siblings to help. What a lot of people don’t know about Hephaestus’s children was that they were actually pretty strong, maybe not as strong as some of the Ares kids, but close. They had to lift heavy machinery off the ground, and work with materials that were sometimes three times their weight and then some. Leo could even admit that he had gained some muscle from all the heavy lifting, and some of his friends had even commented on it, but he was still skinny. But he and Nico were in the same boat, and the son of Hades was just as thin as he was, even a little bit more, but he had some muscle underneath that damn aviator jacket of his. And if anyone had asked, yes, he was looking. Leo just loved to stair at Nico when the black eyed demigod wasn’t looking, taking in everything that made Nico, Nico. From the jet black hair, to the jet black eyes, and the ski that was pale as paper. He knows it sounds cheesy, but Nico could easily be on the cover of a magazine or something, he was just so good looking. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Especially when they were on the boat. Leo had done a few donuts around the lake just for the kick of it, but what he did not plan for was when he clasped on the ignition, he did not expect Nico’s had to fall straight into his chest. It made sense though, as the sudden force of speed made the son of Hades fall forward, but it was not like Leo was complaining. In fact, when the two of them had made eye contact, all Leo could really do was laugh. Nico had always felt cool whenever Leo touched him, and the son of Hephaestus could say he has been blessed by the gods with being able to touch Nico a lot recently. When the two of them had danced, Nico’s hands had been so cool, not chilling cold, but a nice fresh coolness, like a breeze on a cool day. It was definitely something different then any of the other dance partners the curly haired demigod has had in the passed. And when Nico had sat himself on the floor of the canoe, and put his head a few inches away from his torso, Leo had to pull all the strength he had not to get a little </span>
  <em>
    <span>too </span>
  </em>
  <span>excited, if one could catch his drift. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A knock on the other side of the bunker took him out of his thoughts, and he turned his head to look at the door. He knew it was about lunch time, but he was not in the mood to eat, which did not come often to Leo. None of his other siblings had come to Bunker 9 today, as they were busy with other things going on in camp, so it was either one of his friends coming to see him or someone wanting something done or fixed for them. Leo did not mind though, as he was not doing anything at the moment, and pushed himself off the comfortable carpet floor so that he could walk over there and see who it was. Something in the back of his mind hoped it would be Nico, but he kind of already knew that it was not. Nico had the ability to shadow travel, which was badass on its own, but it did come with some downsides, at least for everyone else’s part. It gave Nico the ability to travel into anny shadow into any room. So of course the son of Hades took almost every opportunity he got to scare the shit out of people. Nico did not use regular doors, he could just shadow travel into a room. But, Nico did seem like he had manners, and did seem like he would knock if he was not in the mood to be a pain in the ass, so there was that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo walked over to a panel on one side of the garage door, opening it up and pressing a few buttons so that the garage door could open. There was an actual door on one side of the garage, but he decided that some fresh air would be good for him in the long run. But when the door opened, and he fully got to see who it was on the other side, he was a little confused. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Standing there, one the other side of the door, were two children of Aphrodite, some of Piper’s siblings. One of the children was a boy, Mitchell, who had light brown hair, tan skin, along with what appeared to be golden eyes. His eyes reminded Leo of Hazel’s golden ones, but Leo quickly moved to the girl standing next to him to fully care. Lacy, as he remembered her name being, had bleached blonde hair, with them being in pigtails, with bright green eyes along with pale skin. Both of the children of Aphrodite were obviously beautiful and exceptionally attractive, but Leo has been around tons of hot people as of late that their beauty was no longer distracting for him. Especially when his best friend was Piper, one of the most beautifulest girls in camp. Leo did not know the two of them personally, but he did hear about them from Piper from time to time. The two children of Aphrodite were more of the nicer campers of Cabin Ten, and that was saying something. He knows that the two siblings were the ones that sided with his best friend when she took over as counselor for Cabin Ten, after Drew was being a literal dictator. But other than that, he really did not know them, other than that they were moderately kind. And that they were kind of pushovers, but he knows that Piper was trying to teach her siblings that they needed to grow a backbone and not always rely on their looks to get through life, which was true. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both of the demigods had unsure looks on both of their faces for a few seconds, as they looked into the bunker. Leo looked over his shoulder and saw that yes, looking from the outside his workshop did look like it was in complete darkness. He did have the orange lights on, but compared to the blinding light of the sun, there was no competition. But Leo did care all that much, so he turned back around to look at the two demigods, who were now looking back at him. “What brings you lovely looking demigods to my humble abode?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lacy perked up at Leo’s kind tone, smiling up at him. Yes, even though Leo knows he was on more of the shorter side, Lacy was a literal peanut and it was freaking adorable. But Mitchell looked more freaked out at how big and ominous the bunker was looking at the moment. The straight haired demigod shook his head, and put his gold eyes back on Leo, and actually tried to seem normal. The son of Aphrodite then asked, “Hey, Leo, how are you?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Same old, same old, you know how it is. Are you here to ask me to make you both a vanity like your sister? Cause I totally would, you know.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really?!” Lacy jumped a little towards Leo, grasping slightly at one of his arms, smiling up at the son of Hephaestus. Her bright green eyes were the size of the sun itself, with nothing but excitement and anticipation in them. Leo chuckled slightly at just how excited she got when he said he would build her a vanity, and he had meant it fully. “Could I have one just like Drew’s, but can you make mine green instead of violet? That would be epic-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mitchell cleared his throat, and both of the other demigods looked over at him. He gave his sister an unimpressed look for a few seconds, looking down at the hands that were clutching Leo’s arm. Lacy simply gushed at both Leo and him before she let go, taking a step back. “That’s not what we’re here for, Lacy.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s this about?” Leo asked, with a bit of concern forming in the bit of his stomach. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Piper asked us to tell you that there’s gonna be a counselor meeting at the Big House at one. She would have come herself but she was busy with teaching art and crafts with some of the younger campers.” Mitchell said. The fellow brunette then looked down to a watch on his left wrist and pointed at it with his right hand, showing the time to Leo. “Oh, and in case you haven’t noticed, it’s gonna be one in like twelve minutes.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A meeting? For what?” Leo asked, confused. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lacy answered next to him, “She really didn’t say, only that it had to do with why Chiron upped and left without saying anything.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo had a feeling it had something to do with that. They usually had counselor meetings every two weeks to speak about what was going on at camp, and the only reason there would be a spontaneous meeting would be because shit would currently be hitting the fan. Leo knew that Chiron leaving and not telling anyone would be bad news for all of them, he had felt it in his gut. And now there was going to be a meeting about all of it? No, something was not right. Leo was not the kind of guy to worry about things in the long run, that’s why he and Percy always got along so well. He always loved to build things for the future and help people, but the only time he thought about the long run was when he would plan out just how long his creations could last and help people. He did not like thinking about the future, because life as a demigod did not grant such a solid blessing as a future, but he knew he had to from time to time. But that was why he had Jason and Piper for, they were the ones who would tell him what to build, and he would do it for them. And sometimes they even save the world in the process. And he knew that Chiron leaving must have been common knowledge, as the man had been gone for a few days now, and all of the other campers had to have taken notice. But for Lacy to say it as nonchalantly as she did did not make the son of Hephaestus feel better in any other way except that something not so good was coming. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo just nodded his head at the blonde before he turned around and looked at the other panel outside of the bunker, next to the garage. The two children of Aphrodite watched as Leo walked over to it, and opened it as well, but this time, he shuffled around for a key in his pocket. Since the panel was on the outside, Leo thought it was best to put a lock on it just in case something happens. He put the key in the lock and opened the panel, pressing the same kinds of buttons he did on the inside before he shut it closed, locking it with the same key. The garage door soon began to close shut, and the dim orange lighting of the bunker inside disappeared before their eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The curly haired demigod stepped toward the two other half bloods with a kind smile on his face. “All right. Thanks for telling me about the meeting.” He then turned towards Lacy, and asked, “Want to walk me to the Big House? You can tell me how you want your vanity on the way there.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The daughter of Aphrodite lunged for Leo’s arm, her green eyes shining under the sun. Leo laughed again, and began to walk away from the garage door of the bunker, with Lacy still attached to his arm. The three of them needed to walk through the forest to get to the Big House, and thankfully, the son of Hephaestus did not have to go alone. The two demigods stepped past the son of Aphrodite, who looked a little demigod who looked a little dumbfounded with how easily his sister just latched onto the engineer. Leo smiled up at the fellow brunette. Mitchel was not that tall of a guy, but he was still taller than Leo by just a little bit. Either way, Leo offered his arm to the beautiful demigod, with a small smile on his face. Mitchell looked shocked that Leo had even offered, peering at Leo with wide golden eyes. Even though Leo was gazing over t Mitchell, he could feel Lacy beaming over at her brother to take Leo’s arm. He was glad that he had a wingman like her to convince the shy boy that Leo was not going to bite. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Reluctantly, the son of Aphrodite linked his arm to Leo, and the son of Hephaestus now had two beautiful demigods on both of his arms. By the gods, just what did he do to deserve something like this? To have two children of the goddess of all things sexy and beautiful be around him like this, it was like something out of a different reality. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now, don’t get him wrong, he was still head over heels infatuated with Nico, but he could dream from time to time, couldn’t he? He would not want Nico to see him doing something like this, he did not want the son of Hades to get the wrong kind of idea. And when he was really thinking about it, it was probably a bad idea in general. But </span>
  <em>
    <span>Lacy </span>
  </em>
  <span>was the one to connect their arms together, so it was really all her fault really. And Leo did not want Mitchell to feel weird awkward, more so then the kid already was, so he curl haired demigod invited him into the party. He would just unlink their arms when they were close enough to the Big House so nobody else would see them. Before Leo figured out he actually had a crush on Nico, he would have used this exact situation as an example on how he had every person in camp on Team Leo, but now he dreads the thought of Nico seeing them. Well, maybe not that much considering it felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be this wanted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The three demigods made their way through the forest, simply walking. Leo thought it was going to be a little awkward, but in fact, he was as comfortable as ever. He kept glancing at the two demigods at both ends of his arms, trying to see a reaction out of them. Lacy kept having this small smile on her face as they walked, becoming even wider when she found out that Leo was looking at her. Leo would literally build a thousand green vanities just make that smile stay on her face, and he was not joking. Leo glanced over at Mitchell, who had an impassive look on his face. The son of Aphrodite did not look exactly uncomfortable, but he still had something in those golden eyes that Leo did not like. Mitchell must have felt that Leo was looking at him, as he peered over to look at Leo with his perfectly cut eyebrows. All the son of Hephaestus had to do was wink at him to get a reaction out of the fellow brunette, and Mitchell looked away, blushing like a school boy. Oh yeah, he was definitely going to have some fun with this. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mitchell, you feeling okay? You’re kind of red…” Leo asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Screw you, Valdez. I’m fine.” Mitchell tried to look angry, but it came out more adorable than anything else. The reaction reminded him of Nico, who always tried to seem tough of hell but Leo could always see past that rough interior. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Be careful, Leo.” Lacy said from next to him. “Mitchell’s kind of shy. Especially when he has cute guys winking at him.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo felt his face shift for a moment, but he changed it back so quickly that he was sure that the two children of the goddess of love did not catch the sudden change. It was just an example of another occasion where someone had said something about his looks, and yes, Leo was counting. It was like the son of Hephaestus could not go anywhere anymore without someone saying something. Drew had said it yesterday at the bonfire, which was something he really did not expect to come from someone like </span>
  <em>
    <span>Drew </span>
  </em>
  <span>of all people. When he said his joke about the vanilla and chocolate thing, he honestly had expected her to just shrug him off and go back to talking to the person next to her. But then she ended up playing his game and told him he looked like a sexy greaser. Like, Leo could get behind someone calling him sexy. Hell, whenever anyone gave him a compliment he could quickly tell them how right he was and take it in without a second thought. But a </span>
  <em>
    <span>greaser? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Leo did not even have a leather jacket, only the army one that he wears every now and then, the one he was wearing right now. And Leo has never even greased his hair back, which was the whole point of being called a greaser. But he could understand the comparison, since he had grease and oil stains on his shirt, and the stereotype was that greasers always were fixing their cars or motorcycles… oh shit. Maybe he was a greaser.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Lacy.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>The son of Aphrodite’s voice pulled Leo out of his thoughts, and he looked over to the young man. Mitchell was currently glaring daggers at his sister, but the blonde just stuck her tongue out with a devious glint in her eyes.. “Stop laughing, it's not funny!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It really is, dude.” Leo joined in again. “Aren’t Aphrodite kids supposed to be masters at seduction or something? Shouldn’t you be used to things as simple as winking?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Some of us are.” Lacy said. She looked up to her brother, with nothing but innocence in her bright green eyes.“But others kind of fall flat.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey!” Mitchell tried to seem threatening, with his voice surprisingly going down a few octaves. Leo was impressed that the guy was able to get his voice that low, but when he looked at Mitchell’s it betrayed his tone. The fellow demigod tried to look serious, but it came off more childish than anything else. Leo wondered why the guy was so bad at being anything but soft and sassy. “I can be seductive when I want to be!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, you were very seductive with Connor and the bonfire last week!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“DAMN. She’s spilling all your business!” Leo said. “You’re just gonna let her do that to you!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Screw you, Lacy.” Mitchell said. “And I had him hook, line and sinker before Travis had to butt in our conversation.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oof. They must be talking about when Leo had kicked Travis from his seat so that Nico could end up sitting next to him. Leo had used the black mail of taking the lame for setting one of the canoes on fire, and the son of Hermes promptly moved after that. He and Nico did not end up sitting at the bonfire though, which was a shame, but it would be a lie to say that Leo did not have a good time sitting on a bean bag and simply enjoying Nico’s presence. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lacy just laughed it off. “Shoot me with an arrow, Mitch. At least you’re getting better at your aim.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mitchell seemed to have perked up at that. “Thank you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You do archery?” Leo asked the son of Aphrodite. “You don’t seem the type.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m getting really good at it! I’ve been taking some of the classes that the Apollo kids hold.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You still need practice though. At Capture the Flag last week, he almost shot Clarisse in the back of the head. And they were on the same team!” She chuckled. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo then said, “Thank gods she didn’t see you, or there would have been hella friendly fire going all around.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mitchell chuckled. “Maybe.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The rest of the walk through the forest was actually kind of pleasant. The three demigods did not say anything else, but Leo felt like he was on cloud nine. Not every day did one get to have two children of Aphrodite wrapped around his finger tips, and he was sure as hell going to make sure he built that vanity for Lacy. And he would find something that Mitchell likes too. He did not really know much about the son of Aphrodite, but he seemed to be a good guy nonetheless, so he would figure something out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the Big House came into view, he began to unwrap himself from the other two demigods before anyone could truly see them. Leo stepped in front of them so he could face them fully. He gave them a small bow before adding, “My lord and lady, thank you for accompanying me to the Big House. ‘Tis much appreciated.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He heard Lacy giggle, and when he looked back up, there was a small smile on Mitchell’s face. The son of Aphrodite then said, “Whatever. We’ll catch you later, Leo.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bye, Leo!” Lacy said, with the two demigods walking off back towards the cabins. “Let’s hang out sometime!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Totally.” Mitchell nodded his head in agreement. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d do anything you’d ask and more.” He says to the two of them, finger gunning them as they walked away. “Gimme a time and date, and I’m down.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After watching the two beautiful demigods make their way back to the cabins, which he had no problem in doing, Leo unfortunately turned back around and gave the Big House a good look from where he was standing. The house had stayed virtually the same since the first time he had laid eyes on it, with the same blue paint being chipped away by the nature of the camp. He knows that Rachel Dare was dying to give the house a complete makeover, and since she was an artist, Leo does not know just how far she would take it. One would think that they could simply just put a new shade of blue all around the house and that would be the end of it, but this was Rachel Dare he was talking about. Paint the house one simple color? Has anyone ever </span>
  <em>
    <span>seen </span>
  </em>
  <span>her paintings? Rachel had an honest to god's gift when it came to painting, it was so unreal. Well, maybe using the word ‘gift’ was not the right way to describe it. It took the redhead years to get to the level of the artist she is now, nothing was given to her. Leo has been to that weird ass cave of hers that she lives in and has seen some of her paintings. They were one of the most beautifulest things on the planet- besides Nico, of course. But Rachel’s art always varied whenever he would step in there. The last time he was in the cave was about a few weeks ago when she needed him to fix one of her brush sinks, and at the time, she was currently painting the landscape of the strawberry fields. The last time he spoke with her, she said that she was now feeling more ‘portaity’ than ever, whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He still had a few ways to go for anyone to actually be able to spot him, so he began to walk closer to the house of his camp directors so he would not be late. The curly haired demigod was glad that he parted away from the other two half bloods from where he did, as there were already some campers sitting on the porch, talking to one another with a bit of concern on their faces. One of the campers in question was Piper, who was sitting on the porch of the Big House, talking to both of the Stolls about something. Most likely, they were talking about what was going on with Chiron, but the Stolls looked more interested to get into Piper’s pants with just the expressions on their faces. Leo was sure that his best friend was picking up on their advances, and Piper just rolled her eyes and shooed them away. Both sons of Hermes just laughed as they walked up the steps of the Big House, walking towards Lou Ellen, a daughter of Hecate, and began to badger her instead. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Piper did not seem surprised when Leo walked up to her, in fact, it looked like she was waiting for him. The daughter of Aphrodite glanced back at some of the counselors that were on the wooden porch, who had begun to stand up and walk inside, with the Stoll brothers and Lou Ellen following behind them. The brunette stood up as well, but she did not go into the house, but down the steps of the Big House so that she could most likely say hello to her friend. “Hey.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s poppin,’Beauty Queen?” Leo said with a smile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But the beautiful girl did not give him a smile back like she would alway do, and that was when Leo knew that something was up. The reason he and Piper were best friends, or at least a big complement of it, was that she would always laugh at his jokes. Leo knows that he could be a funny guy from time to time, but sometimes his jokes do fall flat from time to time. But Piper would always laugh at them either way, not because they were actually funny, but because she thought Leo was simply ridiculous. And right now, this was not one of those times. Even though Piper looked stunning as ever, she still had this look of tiredness in those kaleidoscope eyes of hers, and Leo wondered why. Did it have something to do with what was going on with Chiron? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just waiting for the meeting to start. I was just at Arts and Crafts with a shit ton of the younger campers. I don’t even know how Rachel deals with them.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, you sent some of your siblings to come and get me. Why the hell did you even volunteer for something like that? Why couldn’t Rachel go?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She’s said she wasn’t feeling well at breakfast. I think it was the mackerel she ate.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mackerel for breakfast?” Leo asked with an eyebrow raising. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not as weird as you think. Tons of different cultures eat fish for breakfast. But she’s been in bed for the past couple of hours currently vomiting her brains out. The only reason I know is because I checked on her in her cave to see if she was all right. I just told Will, who was beyond pissed that no one told him about Rachel’s condition, and sent one of his siblings to see if she was really allergic to the mackerel, or fish in general.” Piper now had a worried look on her face, beginning to bite her nails. Maybe this was the reason Piper looked so out of it. She must be really worried about Dare, but not only her, the entire thing with Chiron must be having her stressed out as well. “Will wanted to go himself, but the meetings were gonna start soon, and we all reminded him that he couldn’t miss it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Will will get over it. He’s real pain in the ass when he wants to be…” Leo said. But then he thought about something that might raise the daughter of Aphrodite’s spirits. “But hey, didn’t Rachel and Percy have a thing for a moment when they were younger? And could you imagine if she’s actually allergic to fish? That would have been a hella dodge, right?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm.” Is all Piper gives him. Leo could feel the smile on his face begging to falter, so he slowly transitioned it more to a neutral expression. Maybe it was a bad idea to joke about Rachel being sick, it must have hit a nerve with her. The daughter of Aphrodite looked back at the porch again, and found that there were only a few other demigods on the wood, but they seemed to be getting ready to head inside, like the two best friends should be doing. When Piper turned around, she then asked the curly haired demigod in a low voice, “What I really want to know is why you came out of the forest with two of my siblings on both of your arms.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well, shit. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Godsdamnit! The exact reason as to why he let the two beautiful children of Aphrodite go from as far away as he did was for the sole reason of not getting caught. And of course, out of all the people that saw them, Piper would be the one to catch them in the act. Leo tried his best to find an excuse, to tell his friend that what she saw really was not what it seemed like, but his tongue stayed flat in his mouth. There was really no way that he could get out of this by lying, he knew he had to tell his friend the truth. But at this point, Piper did not know that he had feelings for Nico, or at least not yet, so it was not like the brown haired demigod was cheating on the son of Hades, they were not even going out. To Piper, it just looked like he walked out of the forest with two of her siblings on both of his arms, nothing more complicated than that. So he could take Nico out of the picture, But why was he even freaking out in the first place? It was not like he really owed Piper an explanation, he could date whoever the hell he wanted. But she was his best friend, and they </span>
  <em>
    <span>were </span>
  </em>
  <span>her siblings, so the piercing look that Piper was giving was slightly justified. Yet, going back to what he was saying before, he could  be with whoever he wanted. If he wanted to sleep with Lacy or Mitchell, or hell even both (he could dream) it would be none of Piper’s business, they were adults after all. Well, technically not, but Leo would be one in a year or so, so there was that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo still did not really know what to do, other than just put both hands on his hips and not give in to the cold stare that Piper was giving him. The daughter of Aphrodite usually gives this glare to people who try to mess with her siblings, as she was the mother duck throughout her cabin. Hell, she has even given it to Leo when they were playing Capture the Flag one time and some of her siblings were literally not participating at all, and he yelled at them, saying that if they did not play, he was going to make a spray where no make could stick to their faces. Thankfully, it was some of the more gullible children of Aphrodite, so they got their asses in gear then, but it did not sit well with Piper. The two of them got into a tiny argument after that, but they got over it either way. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus then said, “What can I say, Pipes? Just more recruits for Team Leo! You should have known that when you sent them my way.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m serious, Leo.” Ugh, sometimes she </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>was. Piper crossed her arms and the cold stare in those kaleidoscope eyes did not disappear in the slightest. But Leo did not falter one bit, keeping that perfect smile on his face, and he knew it pissed her off. “Mitchell and Lacy are more of the shy types. I don’t want either of them to think all your flirting and crap is serious when you’re just leading them on in the long run.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Excuse me?” The smile on Leo’s face completely disappeared, being replaced with something a little bit more… unpleasant. “Who says I’m leading them on? And the last time I checked, I don’t need your permission to date who I want.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re my siblings. And I don’t want to see them get hurt.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And you think I’m going to hurt them.” Leo says. He said it more as a statement, not as a question. Piper didn’t say anything else, just kept staring down at him. The sternness in those rainbow eyes of her’s did soften, but it did not help the accusation that she had just sent Leo’s way. “Mitchell and Lacy are old enough to know what they want. They even asked me to hang out with them, look at that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And what did you say?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Two of one of the most beautifullest demigods in camp ask me to hang out with them? You bet your ass I said yes!” Leo said, with a little bit more excitement then what was really necessary, but he did not care. If he was being honest with himself, he added the excitement and small chuckle just to spite his friend, which was something he did not think he was capable of doing. “And I didn’t even do anything wrong. Stop acting like I’m taking advantage of them, or I’m gonna start getting an idea of how you really think of me.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not accusing you of anything, so you can get that out of your head.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You are literally integrating me about being interested in some of your siblings and saying that I’m going to break their heart! What the hell am I supposed to think about that?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And the two of them stared at each other for a long time after that. It was just the two of them standing in front of the steps of the Big House, having this weird stare off with one another. He was not going to back down to any of the things he said, as he did not really do anything wrong. He knows that Piper was overprotective of her siblings, but this was just plain right obsessive. Mitchell and Lacy could do whatever they hell they wanted, and so could the curly haired demigod, neither of them needed Piper’s permission to do whatever they wanted. Leo did not want to be in an argument with one of his best friends, in fact, this is not how he would expect the day to go. When he was afraid of being seen by people, the only person he really worried about was Nico, he didn't even think of Piper. In fact, Leo did not care if people saw that he had Lacy and Mitchell in his arms, he would have treasured the fact that he had two Aphrodite kids who seemed to be a little interested in him. But it was just Nico he was worried about, no one else. And definitely not Piper, who he would have thought would be supportive. She was always ranting about how he needed to get with someone, since she felt bad that out of the trio, she and Jason were dating, so she feared for him being left out. But Leo did not care that they were dating, it was all on her, and he was this close to letting it out on the floor for her to know. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The stare off that they were having would be left for a raincheck, as a familiar voice snapped them both out of it. “Um… guys?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two demigods looked away from one another, looking up back at the porch. To Leo’s surprise, there were no other demigods on the porch of the Big House, except one. The half blood in question was standing at the doorway, looking down at the two of them with worried, wide eyes. The demigod had blonde hair, one could easily mistake him for being a son of Apollo, but would get easily sidetracked by the violet in his eyes. It was none other than Pollux, a son of Dionysus. Leo does not know much about the blonde haired son of Mr. D, except that he tends to stay in his cabin alot and not talk to the other campers. He was very much like his dad, a shut in, but he was never rude or anything like that. Leo has only talked to the kid a few times, and in those handful of times, Pollux had been nothing but kind to him. And the brunette should not even be referring to him as a kid, as the violet eyed blonde was a full year older then Leo, and it was in fact his last summer before he got kicked out of camp. And speaking of which, it was actually Percy and Annabeth’s last summer as well, they were supposed to be getting here soon actually, but he does not know the day yet… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Either way, Pollux was still looking at them with worried eyes, as it most likely looks like the two of them were going to start throwing hands at one another. “Uh… Jason says the meetings started, and he sent me out here to get you guys…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry, Pollux. We’re coming.” When the son of Dionysus turned back around and went inside, Piper turned back to him. “We’re not done talking about this.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever you say, Beauty Queen.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And they made their way up the steps, and inside of the Big House. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The meeting room was nothing special. It was just a large room inside of the Big House with a dark wooden table and matching wooden chairs around it. On the walls of the Meeting Room were multiple memorabilia that each cabin had contributed too. For example, Cabin Ten had donated a giant mirror that was located on the biggest wall of the room, which was something that they would totally give now that Leo really thought about it. Another was a bookshelf from Cabin Six that sat next to the large window that showed off the green fields outside, and when Leo looked over through it, he could see the cabins as well from the window. The Hephaestus cabin just donated a little art piece of a metal hammer on top of the bookshelf, and that was the only thing that the room was getting. He and his siblings already do so much for the camp, they did not have time to simply make a decoration for a meeting room. Besides, there were also dream catchers scattered all over the room, kindly donated by Cabin Fifteen, and they actually looked well crafted. Leo has never really used dream catchers, but he’s heard from Clovis that they do actually work, not always, but from time to time. Maybe he would try it when some nights get too much for him to handle. But for all intents and purposes, the room was made out of different things so that all of the camp could be recognized. But it kind of just made the room look like a hot mess. All of the things donated in the room were beautiful in their own right, but they just looked so… gaudy next to one another. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Some of the demigods that were talking outside of the porch were now sitting on the chairs around the wooden table, still talking and waiting for the meeting to start. Piper did not look at him when she walked past him, taking an empty seat in between Lou Ellen and Pollux. The daughter of Hecate smiled at her, and the daughter of Aphrodite smiled back, seeming actually genuine. But the blonde next to her did not look at Piper first, in fact, Pollux was giving a worried glance over to Leo, looking not really sure what to do. The son of Dionysus of course saw the two of them arguing, but Leo does not know the extent of just how much the violet eyed demigod had heard. The son of Hephaestus just gave him a small smile before Leo himself went to find a seat. He would have to mentally remind himself that he would have to talk to the son of one of his camp directors to make sure that he kept his mouth shut. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo sat in between Will Solace and Travis Stoll. The son of the messenger god was busy talking to his brother on the other side of him, but Will was currently leaning on the palm of his hand with his elbow on the table, with a worried look on his face.  When Leo sat down, the blonde noticed his presence right away, and turned his dark blue eyes to look at him. Will gave Leo a small smile, and the curly haired demigod could not help but smile back. He had always liked Solace, no matter how much the guy could be a pain in the ass at times. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Leo.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I heard what’s happening with Rachel. I’m sure she’s fine, dude.” Leo tried to comfort him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know. But I can’t help but worry, you know? What if she’s actually allergic to fish though? She’s not a demigod, so she’s not immune to the things that we are. Now we might have to go and get her an epipen and I don’t even know how to do that considering that demigods don’t even have allergies!” Will slammed his head back onto his palm and pouted. “I sent my brother to go look after her, but he’s still so young, he might not even know what to do!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The pout was kind of cute, but Leo was not in the mood to go down that route, Piper sort of spoiled it for him today. But that did not stop Leo from patting Will on the back and saying, “Stop being such a control freak, Doc! I’m sure your brother can handle her just fine. You trusted him enough to send him right?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Will nodded his head. And even though Leo really did enjoy the pout, he thought that the smile replacing it was ten times better. “Yeah, I did.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then there you go!” Leo said, nudging the blonde in the shoulder. “Damn. Maybe </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>should be the doctor. Call me, Doctor Leo, professional therapist.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You? A therapist?” Will chuckled. “I think I’ll pass.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll have you </span>
  <em>
    <span>know-” </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Someone cleared their throat at the end of the table, and he found himself staring into sky blue eyes. Jason stood at the end of the wooden table, looking over at Leo with what seemed to be not an annoyed look, but more of a disapproving one. It took Leo a few glances from around the table to realize that everyone was staring at them, especially the curly haired demigod. He did not even realize that the room had gotten so quiet, only until Jason had cleared his throat to let Leo know that the meeting was truly starting. Will just gave the blonde a bashful smile, a little embarrassed that now all the attention was on the son of Apollo and Hephaestus. The healer was a good looking guy, so Leo knew that Will was used to people looking at him. Hell, Will was the one that took over the DJ booth when Leo was going to go get something to eat, so will was most definitely not the shy type. But he was pretty sure that Will was just embarrassed at being caught doing something that he was nor supposed to, but Leo did not care in the slightest. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But as Leo looked around the table and found everyone sitting in their seats, it took him a few minutes to realize that there were no piercing black eyes looking at him. There was not a black haired demigod sitting in any of the seats wearing an aviator jacket. If the son of Hades was here, he would most likely be giving both of them, him and Will, the most denouncing looks one could ever muster. He would probably tell Leo to his face that he was being a dumbass and that he needed to be quiet so that they could get the hell out of here, but the black haired demigod was nowhere to be found. Leo did not know what he was expecting to be honest. When he was walking here, he was too busy and Lacy and Mitchell to really give the son of Hades any thought, other than being caught with them in his arms. And then there was Piper trying to start an argument with him, and that was a whole conversation for later. But Leo still should have expected that Nico was not going to come to the meeting, he never really does. Leo thinks that Nico had only ever attended one of these meetings, and that was right after the war, when they were getting everything settled. The son of Hades has never come to another one of these, which was probably because everyone at the table thought he was creepy and didn’t miss him, and because Nico hated being social. But Leo missed Nico, this would have been a perfect opportunity to kick the son of Hermes sitting next to him out of his seat again and have Nico and sit next to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He just gave everyone around the table an award winning smile before he looked up at the blonde son of Jupiter, who was still looking at him disapprovingly. Leo does not know just what Jason’s problem was, maybe it was the fact that the meeting was supposed to start five minutes ago, but something was holding them back. Jason was the kind of guy that liked things to be on time, and he would get annoying as hell when it comes to a schedule. Leo thinks it was the Roman inside of the blonde that really gets to him sometimes. That Jason always had to be a good soldier, and do everything perfect. Sometimes it was cool and useful, but other times it could be a real pain in the ass. Leo just gave Jason a wink, motioning with his hand so  that the blonde could start the meeting. The quicker they start this thing, the faster it could be over. And let’s just hope that the son of Jupiter actually had some good news, and not some ‘saving the world’ bullshit that they had to endure every six months.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you, Leo. Appreciate.” The blonde says sarcastically. Okay, Jason. Didn’t ask for the sass, but if Leo did not think he was so damn adorable he would have sent a flare up his ass. The blonde looked around the table, addressing everyone as he spoke. “I’m sorry that this meeting had to take place last minute, but since Chiron had left without a word, I think it fits the occasion.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Skip the pleasantries, Grace. This isn’t our first rodeo. And I think we all can agree it's not going to be out last.” Clarisse said. “Just tell me whose asses we have to kick this time, so we can get it over with. I start college in the fall, and I really would like to be living when that happens.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The daughter of Ares is correct.” Laurel Victor, a daughter of Nike says next to the girl. Sitting next to Laurel was her twin sister, Holly, and they were both co-counselors to Cabin Seventeen. Laurel and Holly Victor were… strange girls. They are supposed to come from a regal family, which meant they were just as rick as Rachel was, but they were very old fashioned. Everytime Leo spoke to them it was like he was talking to a princess from the renaissance or something like that. And they were always so serious when it came to winning or losing, especially when it came to their mom being the goddess of Victory. But they were pretty. The twins both had long black hair with tan skin, along with light brown eyes. And compared to the male twins sitting next to the son of Hephaestus, he would take the sisters over the brothers any day of the week. “Chiron is not one to just pick up and leave if it was not important. Please make haste, Jason Grace.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You both are right.” Jason nodded his head. “As you all know, as word gets around camp fast, Chiron has upped and left Camp Half Blood for mount Olympus a few days ago. And the only reason we know that is because Will got the word from Mr. D.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All eyes swoly went back to the blonde son of Apollo, and Leo found that uncomfortable look on the boy’s face coming back. Will rubbed the back of his neck as he said, “I needed Chiron to sign off on some things for the infirmary, and when I got there early Saturday morning, he was gone. I went to Dionysys’s room to see what was going on, and he literally just told me that he upped and left without saying a word. Then he slammed the door in my face…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds like something he would do.” Butch Walker, a son of Iris, nodded his head in agreement. Leo was not really friends with Butch, but they were civil to one another. Butch was one of the first people he met when he found out that he was a demigod, so there was always that good memory when he thought of the son of Iris. But Butch was kind of intimidating, maybe not as intimidating as Reyna is, but somewhere in that ball park. The blonde son of Iris did not particularly like Leo though, so there was always that. The buzzed cut demigod ten turned to Jason, and said, “Why is this meeting happening now, though? Chiron has been gone since Saturday, this meeting should have happened a long time ago.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Miranda Gardinar, a daughter of Demeter, nodded her head in agreement. “It does seem a little late, a lot can happen in a week. And isn’t Rachel sick or something? Does her sickness have anything to do with what’s going on? She is the Oracle after all.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a sudden group of glances from around the table. In the long run, the Oracle suddenly being sick after everything that was happening does seem a bit strange. Will then said, “Rachel’s sick because of some fish she ate this morning. Or, that’s what we think.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>think?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Travis says from the seat next to Leo. The son of Hermes looked over the curly haired demigod so that he could get a clear view of the blonde on the other side of him. The prankster gave the fellow demigod a skeptical look, saying, “How do you know it’s the fish though? She could have gotten sick before she even ate it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The son of Hermes does have a point. But didn’t you send one of your siblings, William? When they come back we’ll find out then.” Holly Victor says from next to her sister. Will gave the daughter of Nike a thankful smile, happy that she relieved all of the pressure that was on him right then. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have a gut feeling that it doesn’t have anything to do with Rachel, but we should keep our options open.” Jason said from the head of the table, all eyes going back to him. “But I’m here to tell you that Chiron will be coming back tomorrow, so you can stop worrying about that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No offense, Jason, but I know Chiron is not the kind of guy to pick up his shit and just leave.” Leo says, finally adding something to the conversation. “I’m glad Chiron’s coming back, but that doesn't really solve the issue of him getting up and leaving.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leo’s right.” Piper says. Leo glanced over at the daughter of Aphrodite and found that she was not looking at him, but at the son of Jupiter at the end of the table. If he was being honest with himself, he did not expect Piper to agree with him, especially since they just had that argument that he was still confused about. But he should have guessed that Piper would. The beautiful girl was not the type of person to let petty arguments get in the way of what’s right, especially when it comes to protecting other demigods. Still, it came as quite a surprise to the son of Hephaestus, notably since Piper rhad not uttered a word this entire time. “Is something big going to happen, Jason? I’m with Clairsse, whose asses do we have to kick? I have a life to live.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“See, I always liked you, McLean!” Clarisse’s voice boomed throughout the Meeting Room, causing everyone to slightly jump. “Knew you were way better than that priss Tanaka. At least you actually add something to the conversation, not making about having more closet space and shit.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Back on track, guys.” Jason said to both of them. “I got a message this morning from one of the nymphs to come to the Big House and that Mr. D had a message for me. I got the same treatment as Will though. Dionysys just told me that Chiron was coming back tomorrow and that he could ‘finally take a vacation.’ I don’t know what that means though, considering he’s just stayed in the Big House all week sleeping while we have been covering the work that Chiron usually does while he’s here.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And speaking of sleeping…” Connor Stoll says, eyeing the son of Hypnos next to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Clovis, son of the god of sleep, currently had his head on the dark wooden table, with his mouth wide open and drool coming from the corner of it. Some of the boy’s saliva was falling on the table, and Leo could not help but scrunch his nose at the boy’s gaudiness. Leo did not even realize that Clovis was here, let alone sleeping with his head down on the table. Leo was not one to discinamte when it came to demigods, as he found it sort of stupid and hypocriatl that most of the campers still do it. Look at the way that people treat Nico. But one thing he does not like in the world was just laying around and not doing anything when he could be working, helping people. And the children of Hypnos were the exact opposite of his ideology. All they did most of the time was just sleep in their cabin and not do a thing. Some argue that they actually do accomplish some things while they sleep, as dreams were a powerful tool, Leo could admit. But he could not imagine just sleeping his life away in a cabin, while he could be awake and living. But when some of the Hypnos kids are awake, they always say that he works too much and try to lure him into their cabin so that he could relax. He would always politely decline though, saying he had other things to do. But… maybe he should. He found that his life is getting more and more complicated as of late, and he would really appreciate it if he could just relax. Maybe he could take Nico to Cabin Fifteen where they could nap together. Yeah, that would be nice… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo heard a long sigh sigh from someone across the table, and he found himself looking back at Laurel Victor, who had an annoyed look on her face. There was a book in front of her, one that Malcom, son of Athena and brother of Annabeth, had brought in and read as he waited for the meeting to start. The book seemed to be about war strategies, something that was on brand for a son of Athena, and he had left it sitting in front of him while the meeting was happening. Laurel’s eyes darted for the book, reaching over her sister and picking it up with both hands. But before Malcolm could ask just what she was doing, the daughter of Nike lifted the book high into the air, before she slammed it back down onto the table, causing everyone in the room to jump at the noise. Clovis’s reaction was not as immediate as everyone else’s but he did slowly gag on his own saliva. The son of Hypnos slowly raised his thick blonde haired head up, looking around confused. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If one of us has to stay awake, child of Hypnos, we all do.” Laurel says. Nothing but authority in her tone. “If you can’t stay awake for a meeting as important as this one, I suggest you give the role of counselor to someone more attentive.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yeah, one thing Leo will give the Victor twins was that they could be intimidating when they wanted to be. Especially when it came to winning or losing, they could be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Clovis did not really seem to be noticing the threat in her tone though, as he was still a little out of it. But he did seem to get the message that he had to stay awake, so he just put his back to the back of his chair and looked towards Jason. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you, Laurel.” The son of Jupiter says, not really sounding thankful at all. “But the reason this meeting is taking place is not just because I wanted to tell you all Chiron is coming back, and going back to Leo’s point: Chiron is not the kind of guy to just up and leave without saying anything. The problem isn’t that he just left, the reason I think we’re all looking for is </span>
  <em>
    <span>why.” </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you…” All eyes now turned to Pollux, who had an unsure look in those violet eyes of his. The curly haired demigod thought that he would have the same reaction that Will did when all eyes were on him, but instead he just looked right at Jason. At that moment, Leo remembered that Pollux was an older camper, and it was his last summer here at Camp Half Blood before he went to college. Leo was pretty sure that the son of Dionysus was going to go to New Rome for college, just like Percy and Annabeth were, but he was not so sure. “Do you think there’s gonna be another war?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If a pin could have dropped right then, he was pretty sure that they all could have heard it. No one wanted another war, they have already lost so much in the last one. And he was pretty sure that the gods did not want another one either. Some gods, not all of them, but some, actually did care for their demigod children to some extent. He did not know the true feelings that his father had for him, he would not exactly call it love, but he knew that Hephaestus cared for him in some kind of way. The blacksmith god did for all of his children, and Leo knew that other gods were the same. He could not speak for all of them, like </span>
  <em>
    <span>Zeus </span>
  </em>
  <span>for example, but he does not know if the gods could take any more of them losing their children. Especially for a war that could have been stopped if the deities would simply just talk to one another and instead of just shooting first and asking questions later. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know, Pollux. I hope not.” There was a look of sympathy in Jason’s sky blue eyes when he addressed the son of Mr. D. Jason pursed his lips before he looked around the table again. “All we can really do now is prepare.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Prepare how? How are we going to fight something, physically </span>
  <em>
    <span>or </span>
  </em>
  <span>mentally, if we don’t even know what it is?” Malcolm asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re right, Malcolm. All we can really do is wait for Chiron to get here and tell us what’s happening. But in the meantime, as Cabin Counselors, I want all of you to inform your siblings of what’s going on, making sure that they’re not out of the loop. Gossip around this camp can be brutal, and I don’t want paranoia to be our enemy.” Jason said. “And tell them all to be ready. If a war or fight is coming, we need to be ready when the time comes.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And speaking of preparation, where’s the queen of it?” Leo asked, turning towards Malcolm. “I thought she would have been here by now.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They all knew just who the curly haired demigod was talking about and the whole group of counselors turned towards Malcolm, looking curious as well to know just why the blonde girl was missing. “She Iris Messaged me a few days ago. Annabeth’s with Percy and his mom. They wanted to spend a few days in New York together before they came here. The two of them should be here by tomorrow though.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And of course the two of them will find a way to get involved somehow.” Travis says from under his breath. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Piper asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You haven’t been here long rough, but I’m sure you’ve heard. The two rats always weasel their way into crap like this. It’s basically their brand at this point.” Clarisse muttered, crossing her arms. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew what was going on, considering that Olympus is in New York after all.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be pissed if they do and haven’t said any word back to us.” Jason looked around the table one last time. Leo had a feeling that the meeting was going to end right about now, and the blonde was going to give his final piece on the matter. “I’m going to cut this thing short, considering that you all have to go and talk to your siblings. I suggest you round them up all together and give them the run down so you don’t have to do them one by one. I’ll Iris Message Percy or Annabeth later to see if they know anything about what’s going on. And I’ll leave this before you go: I really don’t know what’s coming. I just hope that we have to go and get some object that a god misplaced or something, that we’re all just taking this out of proportion. But something else in me is telling me that we’re right, that something is coming and we have to be ready. And I’m not the kind of guy to take a chance when lives are on the line. And Malcolms right. We have to be apt, whether it's physically, mentally, whatever you have to do so that you’re on your top game. And let’s just hope that Chiron is just going to give us some good news tomorrow, and a bombshell. Meeting Adjourned.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone got out of their seats with solem looks on their facing. Of course, they all were worrying about what Jason had just said, and they should be. He hoped Jason was right, that they all were taking this out of proportion and they were just being paranoid. Maybe this was just some stupid prank that the gods were playing on them, and that this was all just some misunderstanding. Clarisse immediately stood with some of the other campers and swiftly made their exit out of the Meeting Room, feasibly going to talk to their siblings about what was going on. Some of the other counselors, like Malcolm and the Victors, stayed behind, talking to one another about what their plan of action could be if something were to happen. But Leo found that kind of useless, considering that they did not even know just what they were fighting, so what was the point in talking about potential strategies when there was currently no battleground. Piper and Jason joined into the conversation while Will and the Stolls all left together, most likely with the trio going to go check up on Rachel. Miranda Gardiner had decided that she would make the mortal girl a nice soup that could ease her stomach, so she would join the trio a little later. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Leo stood from his seat, he noticed that Piper had glanced over at him while Malcolm was talking. The daughter of Aphrodite looked like she wanted to say something to the curly haired demigod, but when Jason asked her a question, she looked away from him. And at the opportunity, he made his way out of the room, not giving any of them a second glance. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-000-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus thought that that entire meeting was depressing. Well, maybe not depressing is the word he was looking for, but it was somewhere in that ballpark, especially with the thought of an incoming war or fight. Leo thought that since the last war was such a pain in the ass, there would be no more fighting, at least on their part. Leo knows it sounds selsi, but can’t the gods just wait for another generation of demigods to be born and raised and have them fight their useless wars? Why did it always have to be them? Leo knows that Jason was right when said that they should speak to their siblings about what was going on in camp. Gossip was a son of a bitch, especially when it came to those children of Aphrodite. Leo swears that all they do all day is stay in Cabin Ten, braid each other’s hair and talk shit all day. They certainly were not helping when it came to gossip, but Leo knew he was being unfair by putting all on the Aphrodite kids. Everyone in camp gossiped, even he would get into it from time to time, notably if it was something juicy. But he would speak to his siblings about what was going on, and he would do it soon. He would put word out that they all were going to meet in Bunker 9 and talk about what was going on, and to fill them in. They could probably also talk about what they could do to help if a fight was going to happen… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Leo would shake that thought for now, as he was currently walking up the steps of Cabin Thirteen with a stupid smile on his face. He could not help it! And he probably looked insane too, as there were two gargoyles with piercing green fires being lit all around him, looking scary as hell. But he did not care in the slightest. Because right now, he was going to see Nico di Angelo, the most beautifulest person in the world. Leo knows that he’s been talking a lot about how Aphroddite kids were some of the most beautifulest demigods, but there were also a ton of other half-bloods that looked just as beautiful, even better. Leo hated to say it, but Will Solace was someone who fit that category. With the surfer body, blonde hair, blue eyes. Leo did not really care when it came to hair or eyes, like how some people thought blonde hair was more beautiful than dark hair, or blue eyes to brown eyes. Leo was not shallow like that, but who was he to judge? But Will was very handsome, and so was Nico. Nico was the literal opposite to Will, having more a dark image than a sunny one. But Leo would not change Nico for the world, as he would not change those sharp black eyes, that straight black hair that Leo was sure was long enough to be put in a ponytail. One day, he was going to ask di Angelo if he could put it up, just to see what it looks like. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo knocked on the door, and got a, “It’s open!” in response.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The curly haired demigod smiled at the voice, and opened the door, stepping inside. He found Nico di Angelo laying on his bed, hanging over the edge. Nico was currently reading a book, but it was too dark in here to fully see just what he was reading. He had the urge to tell the son of Hades that he was going to damage his eyes by reading in bad lighting, but he decided to hold his tongue as he was too distracted with something else. As Nico laid on his back, the hem of the shirt rode up past his belly button, exposing those soft cut abs underneath the black fabric. Leo just stood there, dumb founded for a few moments. Was the son of Hades actually trying to kill him? Leo wanted nothing more than to go over there and </span>
  <em>
    <span>touch </span>
  </em>
  <span>the pale skin underneath his shirt, probably feeling so soft and light. Leo wanted to just press his lips on the skin, and give the son of Hades butterfly kisses all around his stomach, just to let Nico know that Leo was there, that Leo was </span>
  <em>
    <span>his. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo stood there for a while, so Nico of course would have most likely noticed that he was not moving. The son of Hades looked away from his book and glanced over at the curly haired demigod, with a confused look on his face. But all Leo did was smile at the son of Hades with warm eyes, before he took off his shoes at the front of the door. He made his way over to the couch on one side of the room, the couch that was closest to Nico’s bed. It was the same piece of furniture that Leo had sat on when he and Nico were just sitting in the cabin eating pomegranates. It would also be a fond memory that he’ll keep forever: Nico pelting pomegranates at him while Leo ran away, manically laughing. Leo felt Nico’s black eyes on him as he made his way over to the couch, but he did not say anything until he looked back up at the son of Hades, who was indeed staring at him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey.” Leo says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey.” Nico said right back. The son of Hades sat up, sitting at the edge of his bed. Leo was kind of disappointed that Nico had done so, only because he could no longer look at the black haired demigod’s exposed midriff any longer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The meeting went fine by way, just so you know. Kind of missed having you there. You could glared eeverytijme someone said something stupid.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico rolled his eyes. It was a gesture that the son of Hades did a lot when Leo spoke to him, but at this point, Leo just found it endearing. “Whatever. Were people saying anything stupid?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Actually, I think it was quite productive. We didn’t have Drew bargain in this time demanding for ore closet space, so it was a win for everyone.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The corners of Nico’s mouth went up, but only slightly. “Really? Tell me what I missed.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And so Leo did. At least to the best of his ability. And as he spoke, Leo tried his best not to stutter over Nico’s focused gaze, looking as if he was taking all of the information that Leo was giving him. He told Nico everything that had happened at the meeting, and what they were going to do afterwards. It’s been almost a week since Chiron had upped and left the camp without a word, and even though Nico does not talk to a lot of the other demigods, Leo was glad to know that Nico knew that their camp director had left. And even if no one had told him, Nico probably would have noticed that Chiron was missing just by him being absent during certain activities. Just like what Jason had said during the meeting, the older camera had to take some of the responsibilities that Chiron once held, especially now that he was gone for the time being. Leo did not really do anything that was supposed to be Chiron’s job, as he was busy with his projects in Bunker 9, but he knows that Jason and the others have been working hard until their camp director got back. But he told Nico some of the other stuff as well, like how he needed to tell his siblings what was going on and just to be ready in general. He does not know just Nico was going to do if there was another war or battle, but he was pretty sure that the son of Hades would just raise an army of skeletons out of the ground and call it a day. Actually, Nico was such a good asset in the last war, and Leo was glad that the son of Hades was their side, even though a lot of the other campers would disagree. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Leo had finished talking, Nico set his book down next to his thigh, and scrunched his eyebrows. “Jason says that we need to get ready, but for what? How can we get ready for what we don’t even know what’s coming?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s exactly what I was thinking. But I think he just meant what each cabin could do. Like obviously the Ares cabin is getting ready for another war, but the Hypnos kids are probably getting ready for a god that could mind rape all of us, you get me?” Leo asked. Nico slowly nodded his head, but he did not look fully convinced. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We should at least prepare for </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>instead of nothing.” Nico says, seeming to understand. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly.” Leo nodded his head. “After Capture the Flag, I’m gonna round up my siblings and have a meeting in Bunker 9, give them the rundown of what’s going on. I think Jason’s right in saying that we should tell our siblings what’s going on instead of keeping them in the dark.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I agree.” Then, a small smile began to appear on Nico’s lips. “Wait, how do you even know you’re gonna win Capture the Flag?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t you know I’m an Oracle now, di Angelo? I can see into the future!” Leo laughed. “And besides, just having me on a team is already a win!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then I pray to Nike for whatever team you get on to win.” Nico says. “Shame I won’t be able to see it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wait, what? “Are you not coming?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico shook his head, sympathetically. “No. I have to go to the Underworld. My father’s requesting me.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh shit, NIco was leaving? There was no way in hell that Leo could allow that to happen, especially now that he knew he had feelings for the son of Hades! Nico was just starting to warm up to him, and now the black haired demigod was going to run back to his father when he was making such good progress with not only Leo, but with the other campers as well. Okay, well, maybe Nico has not been making tons of friends like Leo wants, but he knows that if Nico stayed a little longer then Leo would make him into the most popular guys at camp. Like, Nico was already attractive enough. The guy could literally be a model if he wanted to, Leo could literally write a whole novel on NIco’s looks alone, and now the son of Hades was leaving? Leo knows that when Hades summons Nico down to the Underworld, it was not always life threatening like being summoned to Mount Olympus. Leo himself has never been summoned by any of the gods to go up there, and he prays that he never was. Usually, when a god wants you to go to Olyumpus, it usually has something to do with a giant quest that would most likely end with their death, so Leo was good. But Hades was different. He actually cares about Nico, and was an actual father to him, more so than Leo’s own father was. But Hades was most likely going to send Nico on a quest or something, to run an errand for him, but just how long was Nico going to be gone for? What if he does not come backlink? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo stood from his spot on the couch, and looked Nico right in the eyes. Leo knew that his brown eyes held nothing but seriousness in them, but Nico’s held nothing but caution, which was understandable. Leo had just abruptly stood up, he was probably wondering just what the son of Hephaestus was doing. Leo made his way over to Nico’s bed, sitting about a foot away from the dark eyed demigod. He knew he was taking a risk, and was ready for the son of Hades to kick him off the place where he sleeps, but when Nico just kept peering at him with curious eyes, he knew he was fine. And as Leo sat on Nico’s bed, he could see two things from the corner of his eye, sitting on the black haired demigod’s black night stand. The golden clock and metallic flower that he had given Nico were sitting right there for all to see, and it made Leo smile. Just knowing that Nico had two things that Leo had given him so near the place he slept made Leo’s insides jump around, and he could not control it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How long are you going to be gone?” Leo asks over the silence. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I get back tomorrow. I’m going to shadow travel there sometime today and see what my dad wants. I thought I’d stay the night, spend some time down there and what not.” Nico said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo felt so relieved. Nico was most definitely not going to disappear on him forever, he was coming back tomorrow! Leo wanted to wipe the nonexistent sweat off his face, but he knew that Nico would have given him a strange look. But a few questions did pop into his head though, “So you’re leaving today then. Isn’t this kind of last minute? DOes your dad always ask you to come on the same day?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not really.” Nico shrugged his shoulders. But something caught in Nico’s dark brown eyes, and he looked back up into Leo’s. “If it has something to do with what’s going on with Chiron, I’ll let you know. But I’m pretty sure it’s just my father wanting me to do an errand for him.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Play it safe and let me know either way. For my piece of mind.” Leo said, smiling over at the son of Hades. He really did hope that ades calling Nico down to the Underworld last minute had nothing to with what was going on here in the overworld, but one never knew. “And I’m glad you’re gonna be gone for, like, ever.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Afraid I’m gonna disappear on you, Valdez?” There was a hint of amusement in Nico’s voice</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes.” Leo said honestly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The son of Hephaestus looked down at the pale hands that were resting on the book in Nico’s lap. Leo knew that what he was about to do was taking a chance, but he did not care in the slightest. The son of Hephaestus raised his tan hands over Nico's pale ones, gently grasping at both of them, raising them up in the foot of space between him and Nico. Leo knows that what he was going at the moment was pretty risky. He had half expected the son of Hades, no, not half, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fully </span>
  </em>
  <span>expected the son of Hades to snatch his own hands away and look at the engineer with disgust, but no, Nico did not do that. The son of Hades lightly gasped when Leo’s hands engulfed his own, with his deep black eyes holding nothing but shock at Leo’s sudden movement. But Leo had to do this. He had to let Nico know that he liked him. And not just in a friendship kind of way. That Leo Valdez truly had a crush on Nico di Angelo, and the curly haired demigod wanted to see where it could go. To see if their relationship could go somewhere that was more than a crush, something that could turn into a commodity that was way deeper than a crush. That if Nico would just pick up all his shit and leave Camp Half Blood behind, that would fuck Leo up to no end. In fact, if Nico wanted to leave, Leo would have no problem with that. It was just that he needed to let Nico know that if he did disappear, Leo would build up to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Argo M </span>
  </em>
  <span>to find the mysterious son of Hades. And he still wanted to know everything about Nico. What he liked to eat, what he liked to wear that wasn’t that aviator jacket he wore all the time, everything that made the son of Hades happy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he needed to know if Nico was feeling the same way. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I…” Leo finally spoke after a while. He really did not know what to say, especially now that he had Nico’s pale cool hands around his own. He had practiced this speech a thousand times in his head back at the bunker, but now that Nico was right in front of him, looking at him with wide black eyes, he really didn’t know what to say. “If you were gone for a long time, I’d miss you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One thing, that Leo would note when it came to Nico di Angelo, was that the kid did not really blush. He did so from time to time, but the big indicator that Nico was embarrassed was his ears. Nico’s hair was starting to get long enough to where he could cover it with his thick straight black locks, but right now, Leo could see just how read they were getting. When Nico did not tear his hands away at Leo’s ‘confession’ if one would call it that, he looked down to the black sheets of his bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We… we still have to see </span>
  <em>
    <span>Back to the Future</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Nico says lowly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo smiled. “Yeah…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You said you were going to show it to me… and I kind of said it was a date.” Nico finally looked up at Leo with his black eyes seeming as light as they ever have been. The corners of Nico’s mouth were tilted slightly upwards. Something inside of Leo began to rumble, and he knew he was close to setting this entire cabin on fire due to his excitement. But he knew the son of Hades would not appreciate that, so he just kept his mouth shut. “And I kind of promised you a date…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A date.” Leo repeated. He could literally feel his blood boiling, but it was in the most perfect way possible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A date.” Nico said again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Like a ‘date date?’” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know any other kind of date, Leo.” Nico chuckled. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Nico di Angelo, the Ghost King, son of Hades, has just asked Leo on a date. So all of that bullshit that he had asked Piper last week about the whole date thing, she was totally right! It was all about the context, and now that Leo was thinking about it, them dancing around in soft light and Nico asking him to watch a movie with him, that was totally date material! But for once in his life, Leo actually got his point across and nothing blew up in any of their faces. And even though he was pretty sure he could set on fire at any minute now, he did not care. Well, he did, and was most certainly not going to set Cabin Thirteen on fire and risk pissing off not only Nico, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hades </span>
  </em>
  <span>of all people. But wait, did this mean that the two demigods were dating now? Like officially dating, and not just two friends going to see a movie? But Nico said that he did not know any other kind of date that was not a ‘date date,’ and Leo knew that they were both aware of what a ‘date date’ actually was. And Leo was excited. This was his chance to finally show Nico the romance that he had promised him! Of course, the son of Hades had no idea of the promise Leo had mentally made in his head for the black haired demigod, but all that mattered was that Leo had made the promise. Just what did Nico like to eat that was not pomegranates? He did not want to be stereotypical and just get the fellow demigod spaghetti or something for dinner, that would be like NIco making tacos for him because he was latino. What did he like to drink, what was his favorite flavor of popcorn when he watched a movie? Regular salt and butter, or cheese? These were no many questions with so little time! </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But, Nico di Angelo, one of the most gorgeous looking guys at camp actually said yes to a date with him. But now Leo had so many ideas running through his head. Would they watch the movie here, or at Bunker 9? Nico did not have any kind of movie equipment here, but Leo could always bring a laptop or something. Or hell, he could even install a giant flatscreen and put it on a wall somewhere. No, Nico probably wouldn’t want that, at least not without his own permission. They would most likely watch it at Bunker 9, that was the most probable place. Leo did have that special room of his in the back of the bunker, a place that none of his other siblings were allowed in. He did not have any of his projects in there, it was just a room where he could relax and be on his own for a while. He kind of claimed ir as his own, and none of his brothers or sisters have complained about it. So maybe he’ll do something to impress the son of Hades… yeah… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh… Leo?” The engineer’s thoughts were completely halted as he looked back in front of him, He had completely forgotten that he was holding onto Nico’s hands, or the fact that he was in Cabin Thirteen period. He was just so focused on the fact NICO DI ANGELO had just asked him out on a date! “Your hands are kind of hot.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, shit… um, sorry.” Leo said bashfully, finally, after an eternity letting go. “That happens when I get happy.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really?” Nico’s eyes were slightly curious. He looked like he was going to say something else, but he looked back at the clock on his nightstand. “Wait, isn’t Capture the Flag starting soon? You should head out.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo looked at the clock, and cursed to himself. Nico was right, the game was going to start in ten minutes, and he needed to get his gear to play. He turned back to the son of Hades, who had an apologetic look to his face, but Leo felt like it was him who should be wearing such a face. “I gotta go. Will you be here when the game ends…?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico shook his head, “I’ll probably be gone by then. But I’ll be back tomorrow.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My heart will forever be hollow until you return!” Leo said, grasping at his chest, leaning back onto the covers of the mattress. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nico rolled his eyes, and patted Leo’s lap, “Whatever. Just hurry up and get out.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo chuckled and pushed himself off of the bed, feeling a thousand times lighter than he did before. It was like all of the worry that was surrounding Chiron’s sudden disappearance washed away when he looked back down at the son of Hades. Ico was not exactly smiling up at him, but he did have a positive look in those dark black eyes, so Leo wanted nothing more than to kiss him right then. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So Leo did. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leo leaned down and kissed Nico, right in the center of his cheek. Even Leo was surprised that he had the courage to do something like that, especially something so bold, something he only dreamed of doing. When he leaned back up, he saw that Nico held nothing but shock in those deep balck eyes, but he did not seem disgusted in any manner, so that was a good sign. Before he left Cabin Thirteen, Leo winked at Nico before saying, “Don’t keep me waiting, di Angelo.” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>BOOM. This chapter was unfortunately less Valdangelo and more setting the tone for the over all plot of the story. But don't worry, more fluff coming soon And I loved writing all of those campers at the meeting, it so much fun! And that ending tho!!! But just know that just because their 'dating' now, the story is FAAAAAARRRR from over!!</p>
<p>But what do you think's gonna happen next?? I'd love to hear!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>whatdya think?? I'm a slut for comments ',;)',;)',;)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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